Gayle King Addresses 'Very Painful' Charlie Rose Allegations

The morning talk show host is speaking out.

Gayle King addressed the sexual harassment allegations made against her longtime co-worker Charlie Rose during her appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017—which she nearly canceled in light of the scandal.

"It still isn't easy [to talk about]. It's still very painful," the CBS This Morning co-anchor began (via Entertainment Tonight). "When you think about the anguish of those women, despite the friendship, you have to report the news." When she admitted to "wincing" as Colbert made jokes about Rose during the show's monologue, he replied, "You did your job this morning, and I did mine tonight."

"I'm a variety of emotions. There's certainly some anger, there's some sadness, there's compassion, there's concern," she told the comedian. "I can tell you I'm one thing. I'll tell you what I am is raw." As King went on, she said, "If anything changes in this, what I do hope is that people will speak up. Women are no longer afraid to speak up, but the best part about it is they are now being believed."

As Nicki Swift previously reported, Rose was accused of sexual harassment by eight women in an article published by The Washington Post on Monday, Nov. 20. In the exposé, the women coming forward detailed unwanted touching and groping from Rose and times in which he exposed himself to them or disclosed his sexual fantasies.

The veteran journalist, 75, took to Twitter to "deeply apologize" for his "inappropriate behavior." However, Rose added, "I do not believe these allegations are accurate." He was later fired by CBS.

King, 62, and co-host Norah O'Donnell, 43, had previously responded to the allegations during their show. "I think that we have to make this matter to women — the women that have spoken up, the women who have not spoken up because they are afraid, I'm hoping that now they will take the step to speak up too, that this becomes a moment of truth," King said, adding, "Charlie does not get a pass here."

Rose is just the latest man in the entertainment industry to be accused of sexual misconduct following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which broke in October.