Given that Moonves will likely be a topic of discussion at The Talk if the situation continues to unfold, co-hosting likely would have been uncomfortable for Chen.
She has supported Les Moonves after the allegations against him, even going so far as to show solidarity with him on a recent live episode of Big Brother, when she signed off with “I’m Julie Chen Moonves” rather than her usual “I’m Julie Chen.”
Despite the fact that Julie Chen was an institution at The Talk by virtue of her presence on the show from the very beginning, it’s not altogether shocking that she decided to leave the series.