Julie Chen Moonves has opened up about her life since exiting The Talk in 2018, which followed the dismissal of her husband, Les Moonves, from chairman and CEO of CBS due to accusations of sexual assault. In her newly released audiobook, But First, God, obtained by Variety, she recounts her upbringing, the racism she experienced in her broadcasting career, the backlash after her husband’s sexual abuse scandal, and allegedly being forced out of her job as a result. In her audiobook, Chen Moonves blamed the sexual assault accusations against her husband on Shari Redstone’s plan to merge Viacom and CBS, which he didn’t support. Regarding her departure from The Talk, she claimed that she was pushed out due to the constant media attention on her and her husband. “I was collateral damage,” she said, later adding, “two of my co-hosts called the powers at CBS and said, ‘If Julie shows up to work tomorrow, we’re not coming in.’ So, I was basically told, ‘Please don’t come back to work anymore.’”