Julie Chen Moonves has won the hearts of American television viewers. However, on the way to success, she had to overcome criticism, fight competitors and constantly prove that she was worthy of her place. The journalist came under special attention of the media and the public due to her marriage to former chairman and CEO of CBS channel Les Moonves. Read more about what made the TV presenter’s colleagues complain about her to management, as well as about the main milestones of her career on queenski.com.
Early years
The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Julie Chen (she added part of the surname Moonves after marriage) was born on January 6, 1970 in Queens. Her father moved to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War. Her maternal grandfather grew up in a poor family. However, he became wealthy thanks to his grocery stores. He had 9 wives and 11 children.
In 1991, Moonves graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with a degree in broadcast journalism and English. While studying, she began to get acquainted with television work as an assistant in the Los Angeles bureau of the ABC channel.
Journalistic career
After graduating from university, Moonves got a job as a reporter at the television station WDTN-TV (Dayton, Ohio) and as a reporter at the New York City television station WCBS-TV. Even then, the journalist had to overcome gender and racial stereotypes. While working at WDTN-TV, Julie’s news director told her that she would never become a news anchor because of her Asian eyes. To get rid of her complex, Moonves underwent blepharoplasty, a surgery to reduce the epicanthic folds on her eyes.
Moonves has experienced racism since childhood. When Julie appeared on air, she was told to sound like she was from Middle America. Before her blepharoplasty, she would cut a half-moon-shaped piece of tape to place on her eyelid and stick it above her lash line. This way, she managed to make her eyes look bigger and rounder.
From 1999 to 2002, Moonves hosted news programs on CBS channel, including Morning News and This Morning. In 2000, she also began hosting the American version of the Dutch reality show Big Brother. Contestants compete against each other for a chance to win $500,000. They were in a house with cameras and microphones that recorded their every move for a television and online audience. During the first season, Moonves was the subject of harsh criticism for being too dry with the audience and communicating according to the script. The host replied that such behavior was because she wanted to be objective. From 2002 to 2010, Julie worked as a co-host of The Early Show on CBS.
In 2010, Moonves became a co-host and moderator of the CBS daytime talk show The Talk. It features famous people from the entertainment industry discussing current events, pop culture and family issues. Actresses Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete, who participated in the first season, complained about Moonves to CBS management. They sought to have Julie fired. Instead, they left the show. The journalist left it before the 9th season. Then, two of her co-hosts told CBS that they would not come to work if Moonves worked with them. To retain valuable employees, the network asked Julie to resign.
Personal life
When Julie was working as an assistant at ABC News after graduating from college, she met her boyfriend, news editor Gary Donahue. Later, they broke up. Julie began a relationship with Les Moonves, the chairman and CEO of CBS, who was still married at the time. In 2003, Moonves’ then-wife filed for divorce. The following year, Les married Julie. In 2009, the couple had their first child.
In 2018, 12 women accused Les Moonves of sexual harassment and intimidation. Dozens more accused him of experiencing violence while working at CBS. In the same year, the New York Times published the confession of actress Bobbie Phillips, who told how Moonves sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s. Later, other famous women made similar statements. After numerous accusations, Les Moonves resigned from CBS.
To the surprise of the public, Julie supported her husband. In one of the episodes of the 20th season of the reality show Big Brother, the host introduced herself for the first time as Julie Chen Moonves. Before that, she had not used her husband’s last name in public.
After the scandal, Julie converted to Christianity, although she had never attended a Sunday church service before. As the TV presenter said in her audiobook But First, God: An Audio Memoir of Spiritual Discovery (2023), she does not have to go to church to pray. She can do this while lying in bed, standing in the shower, driving, etc. According to Moonves, during the five years since the scandal, she has changed as a person, having gone on a deep spiritual journey. She admitted that before finding God in her heart, she was too focused on her career and engaged in vanity and gossip.