Julie Chen Skips ‘The Talk’ For Second Week As More Talk Show Hosts Say She Can Never Return To CBS Chatfest

Julie Chen has other talk show hosts talking, even if she’s not talking herself. The longtime host of The Talk was missing from Monday’s broadcast one week after she issued a statement saying she would be taking “a few days” off in the aftermath of her husband Les Moonves’ firing from CBS. And her continued absence could be a sign that she is heeding the warning of other TV hosts who say she can’t possibly return to the CBS chatfest after her recent show of support for her husband, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by a dozen women.

Chen’s continued absence was not addressed by her fellow panelists on The Talk or by guest host Carnie Wilson, per TV Line. Instead, the panel dove right into headlines about Hurricane Florence and left fans wondering about the status of the missing moderator.

Julie Chen did return to live TV last week to helm the double eviction episode of Big Brother. She didn’t address her husband’s scandal, but she did sign off from the show using her married name, Julie Chen Moonves, for the first time in her 18 years of hosting the CBS reality show.

That show of support has many thinking Chen will finish out her Big Brother contract (the summertime show wraps next week) and then exit CBS for good. At the very least, many people in the industry think it will be next to impossible for Chen to resume her day job on The Talk.

Talk show host Wendy Williams was the latest to weigh in on Chen’s decision to stand by her man at the cost of her career at CBS.

“Can she return to The Talk and be effective? My answer is absolutely not. No. They do hot topics, they talk about women’s issues, they talk about families, puppies and things like that. No, no, your man is a forcer. Your man is one of them and goodness only knows how much of this you knew about what he was doing.”

According to TooFab, Williams continued by saying it will be impossible for Chen to work with longtime Talk co-host Sharon Osbourne, who last week said the fallen Les Moonves “obviously has a problem.”

“I would release a statement saying, ‘I feel as though I would be too much of a distraction sitting at the table with the ladies and too much of a distraction for staff and everyone else. So with all due respect I’ve enjoyed my time here, but it’s time for me to step down and I wish the other ladies well,'” Williams advised.

Last week, The View co-hosts all weighed in on Julie Chen’s fate, with the consensus being it would be very difficult for Julie Chen to return to her seat on the CBS talk show.

“I think it’s going to be hard for her to go back to The Talk,” View veteran Joy Behar said. “What topics can they do? They can’t talk about the Me Too movement without her coming clean about her husband.”

CBS has remained silent on Julie Chen Moonves’ future on The Talk.