Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who is currently being held on sex trafficking charges, corresponded with PBS anchor Charlie Rose dozens of times in the 2000s and even recommended Rose hire a woman who worked with Harvey Weinstein as an assistant.
According to call logs obtained by New York magazine, Epstein and his assistant called Rose dozens of times in 2005 and 2006, making lunch or dinner plans for Epstein and Rose or attempting to arrange a meet-up in Paris.
Some of the calls included Epstein making recommendations for Rose, giving him the names and phone numbers of five women he thought the anchor should hire as assistants.
One woman was described as “world’s most perfect assistant she used to work for Harvey Weinstein he’s lucky if he can get her.”
Another woman was listed on flight logs for Epstein’s infamous plane, including during a trip he ferried then-President Bill Clinton across Africa. That woman was later employed by the Clinton Foundation.
Rose hired three of the women Epstein recommended.
“Jeffrey Epstein from time to time recommended various candidates for open positions at the Charlie Rose Show,” Rose’s representative said in a statement to the magazine.
One of the women said she didn’t know Epstein recommended her. “I was being offered up for abuse,” said the woman, who was later one of 34 other women to accuse Rose of sexual harassment.
Rose, who also worked as a journalist and host for CBS News, was suspended indefinitely in 2017 after the allegations were made public. In a statement, Rose said, “I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior.” He was later fired.
Now 77, Rose remains out of work in the media world.
Rose was unaware of Epstein’s alleged abuse and didn’t become aware until Epstein pleaded guilty to two charges in a plea deal in Florida in 2008, Rose’s representative said.
Rose was among the media and Hollywood figures who attended a dinner headlined by Prince Andrew at Epstein’s New York City mansion in 2011 after Epstein was released from prison.
Rose has not commented on attending the dinner.
Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, Woody Allen, and Chelsea Handler were among the others there.
A source close to Couric, a former CBS anchor who recently worked for Yahoo!, told The Hollywood Reporter that it was Couric’s first time meeting Epstein. It was also the last time she was with him, the source said.
A source close to Stephanopoulos told The Mercury News that he was never friends with Epstein, claiming he only attended the dinner after it was pushed by a publicist as an opportunity to meet Prince Andrew. Stephanapolous, a current anchor for ABC News who worked in the Clinton administration, mentioned the fresh charges against Epstein on July 9 without noting his link to either Epstein or Clinton, reported Newsbusters, a media watchdog.
Stephanopoulos later admitted he was at the dinner and said attending it was a mistake.
“That dinner was the first and last time I’ve seen him,” Stephanopoulos told The New York Times in an email. “I should have done more due diligence. It was a mistake to go.”
Handler added to the Times: “It was just one of those strange nights.”
Peggy Siegal, a socialite who arranged the party, said that she did not tell prospective attendees who was hosting the party, instead emphasizing who would be there.
“The invitation was positioned as, ‘Do you want to have dinner with Prince Andrew?’” Siegal said.