Julie Chen Moonves facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Julie Chen Moonves
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Chen in 2009
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Julie Suzanne Chen
January 6, 1970 New York City, U.S.
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| Education | University of Southern California (BA) |
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| Children | 1 |
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| Traditional Chinese | 陳曉怡 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈晓怡 | ||||||||||
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Julie Suzanne Chen Moonves (born January 6, 1970) is an American television host, news anchor, and producer. She is well-known for hosting the American reality TV show Big Brother since it first started in July 2000.
From 2002 to 2010, she was a co-anchor on The Early Show on CBS. In 2004, Julie Chen married CBS executive Les Moonves. She also co-hosted and moderated the CBS talk show The Talk from 2010 until 2018. After her husband faced some serious accusations, she started using her married name, Julie Chen Moonves, on Big Brother in September 2018. She signed off with, "I'm Julie Chen Moonves, goodnight," which was a change from her usual "Julie Chen."
In 2018, Julie Chen Moonves wrote her first children's book, When I Grow Up. She dedicated this book to her son, Charlie.
Early Life and Education
Julie Chen was born in Queens, New York City. Her parents were immigrants from China. Her mother, Wang Ling Chen, grew up in Rangoon, Burma. Her father, David Chen, was born in China. He later moved to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War.
Julie has two older sisters, Gladys and Victoria. She went to junior high school in the Whitestone area of Queens. She then graduated from St. Francis Preparatory School in 1987. Julie Chen studied at the University of Southern California. She graduated in 1991 with a degree in broadcast journalism and English.
Television Career
One of Julie Chen's first jobs was in June 1990. She interned at CBS Morning News, where she answered phones. A decade later, she would become an anchor for that same show. The next year, while still in college, she worked for ABC NewsOne. She was a desk assistant for one season. She was then promoted to a producer role for three years.
In 1995, she moved to Dayton, Ohio. There, she worked as a local news reporter for WDTN-TV until 1997.
In 2015, Chen shared a story on The Talk. She said that a news director in Dayton told her she would never be a news anchor. This was because of her "Asian eyes." A "big-time agent" agreed and suggested she get plastic surgery. She decided to have a surgical procedure called blepharoplasty. This surgery helps to reduce the epicanthic folds of her eyes.
From 1999 to 2002, Chen was the anchor of CBS Morning News. She was also a news anchor for CBS This Morning and later The Early Show. From 2002 to 2010, she was a co-host of The Early Show. She later became a special contributing anchor until the show ended. Before working at CBS News, she was a reporter and weekend anchor at WCBS-TV in New York City.
Since 2000, Julie Chen has been the host of Big Brother. During the first season in 2000, some people criticized her on-air style. They gave her the nickname "Chenbot." Julie has said in interviews that she doesn't mind the name. She thinks it comes from her "precise on-air style." She also said it comes from wanting to be objective. She even proudly said, "I am the Chenbot!" on The Early Show.
Chen was the moderator and co-host of the CBS Daytime talk show, The Talk. The show started on October 18, 2010. The original hosts included Chen, show creator Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete, and Marissa Jaret Winokur.
On September 18, 2018, Chen announced she would not return to The Talk. She said she needed "to spend more time at home with [her] husband."
In her 2023 audiobook, But First, God: An Audio Memoir of Spiritual Discovery, she shared more about leaving The Talk. She said she was told not to come back to work. Her co-hosts at the time were Gilbert, Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, and Eve.
Personal Life
After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1991, Julie Chen became a news assistant for ABC News in Los Angeles.
On December 23, 2004, Chen and Les Moonves were married. They had a private ceremony in Acapulco, Mexico. On September 24, 2009, Julie gave birth to their son, Charlie.
In September 2013, on The Talk, Chen shared that she had blepharoplasty surgery early in her career. She said a news director and an agent pressured her to look "less Asian." Chen said this decision "divided" her family. However, she stated she must "live with every decision that I've made." She added that it "got me to where we are today. And I'm not going to look back."
In 2018, she began using her married name, Julie Chen Moonves. She started this on the September 13, 2018, episode of Big Brother. She signed off with, "I'm Julie Chen Moonves, goodnight." This was different from her usual sign-off as just Julie Chen. CBS later confirmed she would host the second season of Celebrity Big Brother using the name "Julie Chen Moonves."
In her audiobook, But First, God: An Audio Memoir of Spiritual Discovery, released on September 19, 2023, she shared her journey to Christianity. She said she embraced Christianity in 2018. She told Good Morning America that before finding God, she was "self-absorbed, career-minded, vain, gossipy." She said the Julie Chen Moonves who knows the Lord now "wants to help others." She also wants "to look at everyone with a soft heart."
Books
- Chen Moonves, Julie (2023). But First, God: An Audio Memoir of Spiritual Discovery. Simon & Schuster Audio Originals. ISBN: 1797158554
