Charlie Rose, the former TV host, has been accused of turning his studio into a “s**ual hunting ground” by his long-time makeup artist, Gina Riggi.

In a new lawsuit filed in Manhattan state court, Riggi alleged that Rose used his PBS interview show as “an instrument of his predatory s**ual behavior”.

Rose’s show was cancelled in November 2017 after allegations of misconduct emerged, making him one of the high-profile casualties of the first phase of the #MeToo era.

He was also fired by CBS News.

Rose’s attorney responded to the lawsuit by stating that he denied the allegation that “makes a good tabloid story, but not much else”.

Riggi managed makeup for the Charlie Rose show for 22 years.

She claimed to have endured “misogynistic, abusive behavior … demeaning, embarrassing and degrading her because of her gender, ridiculing her physical appearance and physically accosting her on the set, forcing her to use a hand mirror to protect herself from him”.

According to the lawsuit, Rose created a “toxic work environment suffused with s**ual harassment and gender-based abuse for … female staff, using the show as an instrument of his predatory s**ual behavior, and the Bloomberg studio where he recorded it as a s**ual hunting ground”.

Riggi also stated that Rose preyed on women at his Manhattan and Hamptons homes, in addition to “trendy restaurants where he insisted on hosting staff events”.

The suit further alleges that: “Mr.

Rose routinely groped and pawed at his female staff, pressed himself against them, hugged them, kissed them, pulled them toward him, whispered in their ears, stared at their breasts, looked down their shirts and otherwise subjected them to inappropriate and unwanted physical contact”.

Riggi also reported that she once heard a female producer “make reference to ‘the crusty claw’, a reference to Mr. Rose’s propensity to grab female staff inappropriately”.

Rose’s lawyer, Jonathan Bach, said his client “vehemently denies and will vigorously contest these allegations”.

Bach also claimed that Riggi’s allegations were “completely inconsistent with written statements made by the plaintiff to Mr. Rose, including ‘I love working for you at your show, and would love to be part of any show that you host’, ‘I consider it an honor to be a member of your team’ and ‘Hope to see you more often!

Please stop by any time’, with a smiley face”.

The civil complaint alleges that Rose “targeted young, attractive women just beginning their journalism careers, dangling internships and jobs to lure them to ‘interviews’ and ‘career discussions’ with him, often over drinks and dinner.

But, far from being an advocate for their careers, Mr. Rose treated them as s**ual targets, using his power and influence to serve his personal desires.

In many instances, he never offered these women any employment at all.”
Riggi claimed that she was “verbally abused … on an almost daily basis”.

She alleges Rose “regularly swatted at her physically as she attempted to comb his hair or adjust his makeup”.

The suit adds: “On one occasion, while taping on location outside of the studio, Mr. Rose became upset while Ms. Riggi applied his makeup, and forcefully grabbed and twisted her arm, physically hurting her.” Riggi protested and told supervisors, but did not receive a response.

Eventually, she “resorted to using a large hand mirror as a shield so that Mr. Rose could not physically assault her”.

Riggi also claims that she was improperly classified as a contract worker, wrongly making her ineligible for unemployment benefits when Rose’s show ended.

Bloomberg, however, denied any responsibility for this in a statement: “At no time was the plaintiff an employee of ours.

We understand that the plaintiff was a contractor of Charlie Rose Inc, and given that they operated independently of us, any of her compensation would have been handled solely by [them].

We have no records of any complaint”.

PBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.