Julie Chen Moonves on the plastic surgery tip she got at 27 — and how she’s learned to embrace aging born January 6, 1970, is a prominent American television personality, news anchor, and producer primarily associated with CBS. Her most enduring role has been as the host of the U.S. version of the reality juggernaut Big Brother, a position she has held continuously since the show’s debut in July 2000. This long tenure has made her a defining figure in American reality television. Alongside Big Brother, Chen expanded her presence within the CBS network, taking on significant news duties. From 2002 until 2010, she served as a co-anchor on the network’s flagship morning program, The Early Show, further establishing her credibility and visibility.
Chen’s professional life became further intertwined with CBS leadership when she married network executive Les Moonves in 2004. Following her departure from The Early Show, she transitioned to daytime television in 2010, becoming a co-host and the moderator of the CBS talk show The Talk. She remained a central figure on this program for eight years. However, her tenure on The Talk ended abruptly in 2018. This departure coincided with the emergence of multiple sexual assault and harassment allegations against her husband, Les Moonves, creating a significant personal and professional crisis.
Chen’s exit from The Talk marked a pivotal moment in her public identity. Demonstrating a clear stance amidst the controversy surrounding her husband, she made a notable on-air change. Beginning with the September 13, 2018, episode of Big Brother, she deliberately began using her married surname “Moonves” professionally for the first time, signing off definitively as “Julie Chen Moonves, goodnight.” This broke her long-standing practice of using only “Julie Chen.” Later that same year, she also ventured into authorship, releasing her first children’s book, When I Grow Up, dedicated to her son, Charlie.
Julie Chen Moonves Early Life and Education
Born Julie Chen on January 6, 1970, in Queens, New York City, she is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Her mother, Wang Ling Chen, was raised in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), while her father, David Chen, was born in China and fled to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War. Chen’s maternal grandfather, Lou Gaw Tong, rose from impoverished beginnings in Penglai, Fujian Province, China, to build significant wealth through a grocery store chain, ultimately maintaining a polygamist household with nine wives and eleven children. Julie grew up with two older sisters, Gladys and Victoria. Her education began locally in Queens, attending junior high school in the Whitestone area. She graduated from St. Francis Preparatory School in 1987 before pursuing higher education at the University of Southern California (USC). In 1991, Chen earned her bachelor’s degree from USC with a double major in broadcast journalism and English, laying the academic foundation for her future career in television. Her upbringing as the child of immigrants in New York City and her family’s complex international background shaped her early experiences.
Julie Chen Moonves Career
Julie Chen Moonves’s broadcasting journey began humbly in June 1990 with an internship at CBS Morning News, working alongside Andy Cohen and performing basic tasks like answering phones and distributing faxes – a show she would later anchor. While still finishing her degree at USC in 1991, she secured a desk assistant position at ABC NewsOne for one season, quickly advancing to producer for the subsequent three years. Seeking on-air experience, she moved to Dayton, Ohio, in 1995, working as a local news reporter for WDTN-TV until 1997. This period, however, was marred by a deeply impactful incident: Chen revealed in 2015 on The Talk that her Dayton news director told her she would never become a network news anchor because of her “Asian eyes.” Following similar advice from a “big-time agent,” she underwent plastic surgery to reduce her epicanthic folds. Returning to CBS, Chen anchored the CBS Morning News from 1999 to 2002, also serving as news anchor for CBS This Morning and later The Early Show, alongside notable co-hosts like Bryant Gumbel and Jane Clayson. She became a full co-host of The Early Show from 2002 to 2010, transitioning to a special contributing anchor role until the program’s cancellation; prior to these national roles, she had been a reporter and weekend anchor at WCBS-TV in New York City. Parallel to her news career, Chen launched what would become her signature role in July 2000 as the host of the American version of Big Brother. Initially facing criticism for a perceived stiff, scripted delivery that earned her the nickname “Chenbot,” she embraced the term over time, attributing her precise style to a desire for objectivity and even proudly declaring “I am the Chenbot!” on air. Her career expanded further in 2010 when she became a co-host and the moderator of the new CBS Daytime talk show The Talk, alongside creator Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete, and Marissa Jaret Winokur. Chen later stated that Remini and Robinson Peete complained to CBS about her and sought her removal after the first season, but it was the two actresses who departed instead; Chen claimed reconciliation occurred later. Her tenure on The Talk lasted eight years but ended abruptly in September 2018. Amidst multiple sexual assault and harassment allegations surfacing against her husband, CBS CEO Les Moonves (whom she married in 2004), Chen announced via a pre-recorded message on September 18, 2018, that she was leaving the show to spend more time at home with her family. In her 2023 audiobook, But First, God, she provided a different perspective, stating she was told the day before Season 9 premiered that two co-hosts (reportedly Gilbert and Osbourne, alongside Sheryl Underwood and Eve) threatened not to work if she showed up, leading CBS to effectively force her out, making her feel like “collateral damage” in the wake of her husband’s ouster. Despite this departure, she continued her long-standing role on Big Brother, significantly changing her sign-off to “Julie Chen Moonves” for the first time, publicly aligning with her husband amidst the scandal.
Julie Chen Moonves Personal Life
Julie Chen’s personal journey has been marked by significant relationships, family milestones, and profound personal transformations. After graduating from USC in 1991, she began working at ABC News in Los Angeles, where she met and dated television news editor Gary Donahue, though this relationship eventually ended. Her personal life took a major turn when she began a relationship with Les Moonves, then President and CEO of CBS Television, while he was still married to Nancy Wiesenfeld Moonves. Nancy filed for divorce in April 2003, citing irreconcilable differences, shortly after Les signed a lucrative new contract with Viacom. The divorce proceedings, prolonged by financial settlement disputes, culminated in an early divorce decree granted on December 10, 2004, leaving spousal and child support to be determined later. Julie and Les married in a private ceremony in Acapulco, Mexico, on December 23, 2004. Their son, Charlie, was born on September 24, 2009. A deeply personal revelation came in September 2013 during The Talk‘s fourth season, where Chen disclosed she had undergone blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) early in her career due to pressure from a news director and agent who told her she wouldn’t succeed as an anchor because of her “Asian eyes.” She acknowledged this decision “divided” her family but stated she lived with the choices that shaped her path. Her personal life faced intense public scrutiny in 2018 following multiple sexual misconduct allegations against her husband. In a powerful and symbolic response on the September 13, 2018, episode of Big Brother, she broke her long-standing sign-off tradition, declaring “I’m Julie Chen Moonves, goodnight,” publicly embracing her married name amidst the scandal. This decision elicited mixed reactions but signaled her stance. CBS later confirmed her return for Celebrity Big Brother using her full married name. A significant spiritual shift occurred during this tumultuous period. In her 2023 audiobook, But First, God: An Audio Memoir of Spiritual Discovery, Chen revealed she embraced Christianity in 2018 despite never having attended church regularly before. She described her pre-faith self to Good Morning America as “self-absorbed, career-minded, vain, gossipy” and contrasted it with her current self, who seeks to help others and view everyone “with a soft heart.” This spiritual awakening marked a profound evolution in her personal identity.