CBS viewers were taken by surprise on Thursday night when Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves made a bold and seemingly flirtatious remark to a male contestant during the live show.

The moment also triggered renewed scrutiny over her embattled legacy as the wife of disgraced former CBS chief Les Moonves, 75. 

The shocking exchange unfolded during just before a live vote and eviction on the  reality TV show.

During the segment, Chen Moonves engaged with the house guests, including Will Williams, a 50-year-old retired Army captain and a black contestant, who was eager to greet his wife on air.

‘Shout out to my family and shout out to my babe and my chocolate drop, Gwen,’ Will said. 

Chen Moonves, 55, smiling playfully, leaned into the moment – and then crossed a line that many viewers couldn’t believe they’d just heard.

‘Will, am I your lemon drop then?’, Chen Moonves asked without missing a beat.

The comment immediately set off pandemonium inside the Big Brother house.

Williams stood up in shock while the gathered house guests all erupted with laughter. 

CBS viewers were taken aback on Thursday night when Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves made a daring, flirtatious comment to a male contestant during the live broadcast

Will Williams, a 50-year-old retired Army captain, right,  gave a shout-out to his wife, Gwen, on air calling her his ‘chocolate drop’

‘Will, am I your lemon drop then?’, Chen Moonves asked without missing a beat. The comment immediately set off pandemonium inside the Big Brother house

Chen Moonves appeared to recoil in embarrassment realizing what she’d just said. 

‘I’m just kidding. Settle down,’ she said moments later, attempting to regain control as the contestants continued to howl with laughter. ‘Tell your wife it was a joke! Now we have business…’

Viewers on social media exploded with many stunned that Chen Moonves would have make such a remark to a married contestant on national television.

Others questioned the racial implications of the ‘lemon drop’ comment, especially in the context of her husband’s very public fall from grace following multiple sexual misconduct allegations. 

‘She said that on national TV!!! Someone’s about to get real offended,’ one user wrote on TikTok.

‘The immediate regret in her voice and trying to walk it back – this is incredible,’ another posted to X.

‘My. Jaw. Dropped. It was so good,’ wrote a third.

‘Is this literally not racist cause lemon drops are yellow and…’ a fourth asked bluntly.

Will referred to his wife, Gwen, seen in lemon yellow as his ‘chocolate drop’ – but Chen Moonves asked if she could be his ‘lemon drop’. The couple have been together nine years

The retired Army Captain initially seemed to laugh off the comment made by Chen Moonves

Williams then got up and pointed his finger at Chen Moonves as the housemates fell about laughing

There were howls of laughing from the gathered housemates following Chen Moonves’ remark

The viral moment, though just seconds long, immediately brought renewed attention to Chen Moonves’s controversial past – and the scandal that forced her husband out of the network she still represents and broadcasts.

Although she has attempted to distance herself from her husband’s public disgrace, Chen Moonves remains inseparable in the public imagination from Les Moonves, the disgraced former CEO and chairman of CBS Corporation who was forced out in 2018, after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct spanning three decades.

Moonves, once one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood, allegedly subjected women to groping, forced oral sex, and retaliation – charges he vehemently denies.

At the time, Chen Moonves publicly backed her husband and even adopted her full married name – Julie Chen Moonves – on-air, in a move widely viewed as a symbolic declaration of loyalty while the CBS network distanced itself from the scandal. 

Behind the scenes, the fallout was personal with Chen Moonves ousted from The Talk chat show, a position she later said she didn’t leave voluntarily.

‘That was a hard time,’ Chen told ABC News. ‘I felt stabbed in the back. I was, you know? I don’t know if I could’ve reconciled if I didn’t have God in my life.’ 

Viewers on social media exploded with commentary with many stunned Chen Moonves would make such a remark to a married contestant on national TV. Pictured, Leslie Moonves and Julie are seen in 2016. The couple have been together since 2004

Les Moonves, the disgraced former CEO and chairman of CBS Corporation was forced out in 2018 after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct spanning three decades 

Chen Moonves has since turned to religion, publishing an audio memoir titled But First, God and leaning heavily into her faith as a way to reframe her public identity.

‘Julie Chen before she found God was a self-absorbed, career-minded, vain, gossipy, fun to be with, but probably kind of a shallow person,’ she confessed.

‘Julie Chen Moonves, who now knows the Lord, is someone who wants to help others, who wants to look at everyone with a soft heart.’

But Thursday night’s lemon-drop flirtation seemed to break from that rebranded image – and reignited questions about her role as a public figure on a major network.

Despite his ouster and years of legal wrangling, Moonves and CBS remain linked. 

In 2021, he gave up a $120 million severance package in a settlement with ViacomCBS. The company then declared the matter ‘resolved.’

Married in 2004, Julie and Les have remained together, raising their son Charlie. 

‘We leaned on each other and we knew that nothing could break us,’ Chen Moonves told People while promoting her memoir last year. ‘It was our love and our foundation that got us through.’

Still, critics say Chen Moonves presence on Big Brother continues to raise ethical questions for CBS.