Is Julie Chen still married to Les Moonves? Husband drama explored as host comes under fire over new memoir 

On Monday, September 18, 2023, Julie Chen appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America to promote her upcoming audio memoir, But First, God. As part of the show, she broke her silence about her sudden exit from the CBS panel series The Talk in 2018, only a few days after her husband and the then chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation, Les Moonves, was fired amid s*xual misconduct allegations from over a dozen women.

Julie Chen said on Monday that her departure from The Talk was not her own decision but one made on her behalf.

“That was a hard time. I felt stabbed in the back. I was, you know,” she stated.

Interestingly, over the years, Julie Chen stood by her husband and even called him "a good man, a loving father, a devoted husband, and an inspiring corporate leader" on X (formerly Twitter) back when the accusations first emerged in July 2018.

Not only that, she also began using her husband’s last name around the same time to show her support for him. Julie Chen and Les Moonves have been married since 2004. However, in the wake of her new book, which chronicles her own spiritual journey, she has earned online backlash for standing by her husband and dismissing the victims.

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Julie Chen is still married to Les Moonves and shares a son with him

Julie Chen and Les Moonves met in the CBS office in the early 2000s, when the former joined CBS Television as a news assistant, while the latter was already the President and CEO.

The duo allegedly started dating in early 2003, even while Les Moonves was still married to his first wife, Nancy Wiesenfeld Moonves. However, Moonves and Wiesenfeld got divorced in December 2004, and later that same month, Julie Chen tied the knot with Les Moonves at a private ceremony in Mexico. In September 2009, the couple was blessed with a son named Charlie.

Fast forward to September 2018, and Les Moonves was forced to step down as the chairman and CEO of CBS after more than a dozen women came forward and accused him of s*xual assault. However, he denied all allegations, and so far, nothing has been proven against him.

Meanwhile, a few days after Moonves’ exit, Julie Chen too left the CBS show The Talk after eight years of moderating it. Back then, she had cited that she took the step to "spend more time at home with my husband and our young son," as per reports from People.

In fact, she dismissed all allegations against her husband and stood by him. In July 2018, she even took to Twitter to say that Les Moonves was a "kind, decent, and moral human being."

Not only that, but while co-hosting another CBS reality series, Big Brother, in September 2018, she even started using her husband’s last name and called herself Julie Chen Moonves as a show of support for him.

Now, after five years, Chen has opened up about Les Moonves’ s*xual misconduct allegations on Good Morning America and said that he continues to deny them, and she believes him. On Monday, Chen also told GMA while promoting her new audio memoir:

“I know my husband, you know, I know him.”

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Julie Chen faces online backlash amid the launch of her new audiobook

Julie Chen’s new audio memoir But First, God revolves around her own spiritual journey that she has undertaken amidst the scandal surrounding her family, and as per her statement on Good Morning America, it has “fundamentally changed” her life.

Likewise, she told GMA that her new-found faith helped her reconcile with all the negativities that have been surrounding her for the past few years and also helped her cope with her career setbacks.

“Julie Chen before she found God was self-absorbed, career-minded, vain, gossipy – fun to be with, but probably kind of a shallow person. Julie Chen Moonves, who now knows the Lord, is someone who wants to help others; who wants to look at everyone with a soft heart,” she stated.

In her book, she also chronicles how hard it was to explain the scandal to her son Charlie and accept that challenging times are just part of life. In addition, Chen said that her memoir was about initiating a personal relationship with God and seeking peace and hope through him.

Despite all these, Chen has come under fire for promoting her new memoir, as netizens have criticized her for supporting her husband instead of his victims.

Now 53 years old, Chen has hosted the CBS reality TV show Big Brother since its debut season in 2000. She is still part of the series, which is currently in its 25th season. Besides, she is also a host of its spin-off show, Celebrity Big Brother, also a CBS production. Some other CBS shows that she has been part of include The Early Show, CBS Morning News, and The Talk.

In 2018, Chen published her first book, When I Grow Up, which was dedicated to children, especially her son, Charlie.