Leslie Moonves

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore has apologized to the family of a former television executive who accused former CBS chief Leslie Moonves of sexual misconduct. The chief’s apology came after disclosures that a former LAPD captain in 2017 shared information about Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb’s allegations with CBS executives, including Moonves.

Leslie Moonves and Paramount Global will have to pay $9.75 million to CBS shareholders as a result of sexual misconduct claims in a deal made with the New York attorney general. This is in addition to a $14.75 million settlement as the result of a class action suit that has been awaiting approval by a New York judge.

CBS and former entertainment chairman Leslie Moonves have resolved their dispute over $120 million that Moonves was set to collect as part of his exit from the company in 2018. In an SEC filing on Friday, CBS said that money, which had been held in a trust while they settled the dispute, will revert back to the company.

Gripped by scandal in the summer of 2018, CBS came up with a way to contain the crisis. The television giant’s board hired two outside law firms to investigate sexual misconduct claims against its longtime leader, Leslie Moonves, and to scour the company for traces of a toxic atmosphere. A Los Angeles Times review of court filings, CBS internal communications and interviews with two dozen current and former CBS television station employees found that many were troubled by the outcome of the investigation and questioned the company’s commitment to cleaning up its culture.

CBS is defending its handling of a sexual harassment by Michael Weatherly, star of its drama series Bull. CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl said Wednesday that Weatherly “owned” his mistake and was apologetic and remorseful. Last year, CBS reached a $9.5 million confidential settlement with actress Eliza Dushku after she alleged on-set sexual comments from Weatherly made her uncomfortable.

Former CBS Chairman-CEO Leslie Moonves and CBS corporate filed legal briefs Friday in connection with a shareholder lawsuit that accuses CBS, its board and Moonves of failing to disclose information that would affect business operations and stock prices.

An amended lawsuit say stock sales from Leslie Moonves, Joseph Ianniello and other executives amount to evidence of knowing wrongfulness and fraudulent motive.

In a terse regulatory filing, CBS has confirmed that its former CEO, Les Moonves, isn’t going away without a fight. In December, the company’s board cited the findings of its internal investigation in declaring that Moonves had been fired for cause and would therefore not be eligible for the $120 million exit package included in his contract. In the filing, CBS said: “Mr. Moonves notified the company of his election to demand binding arbitration with respect to this matter. The company does not intend to comment further on this matter during the pendency of the arbitration proceedings.”

CBS’s board was emphatic this week that the ousted chief executive Leslie Moonves “will not receive any severance payment,” slamming the door on his quest to collect $120 million. Case closed? Hardly. Under his termination agreement, reached when he left the company in September, CBS itself will be picking up the tab — it has been footing the bill for Moonves’s monthslong legal fight against CBS.

Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Operating Officer Tom Staggs has emerged as a top candidate to become CBS Corp.’s new chief executive, people familiar with the matter said, as the network tries to move past months of uncertainty and upheaval since the departure of Leslie Moonves over allegations of sexual harassment.

In the past 13 months, CBS has undergone a companywide reckoning in the wake of the #MeToo movement that has stretched from its morning show to its primetime lineup, its news division to its executive suite. Three powerful men at the company — Leslie Moonves, its chief executive; Charlie Rose, its morning show anchor; and Jeff Fager, the executive producer of 60 Minutes — have all lost their jobs because of workplace conduct.

CBS Corp. said Friday it would award $20 million that was originally earmarked for severance for its former CEO, Leslie Moonves, to 18 different organizations that work to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace.

CBS shareholders quickly elected 11 members of its revamped board on Tuesday before their annual meeting adjourned without discussion of an investigation into sexual-misconduct claims against former CBS CEO Les Moonves. The meeting wrapped up in less than 30 minutes.

CBS officials are unlikely to say more on the investigation into sexual-misconduct claims against former CBS CEO Les Moonves and the $120 million severance package on the line. The bigger task will come behind the scenes in the weeks to come.

Disgraced media mogul Les Moonves is threatening to sue CBS over recent leaks of lurid details about his alleged sexual misconduct. In what’s expected to amount to a breach of contract suit, Moonves’ lawyers are preparing to allege that leaks to the New York Times last week about CBS’s pending investigation into Moonves broke a confidentiality agreement and sullied the exec’s reputation, sources close to Moonves said.

A trove of text messages details a plan by Les Moonves and a faded Hollywood manager to bury a sexual assault allegation. Instead, the scheme helped sink the CBS chief, and may cost him $120 million.

CBS Corp. sought to turn the page on a tumultuous stretch when it said last month that Leslie Moonves was stepping down as chairman and chief executive amid sexual-harassment accusations and that the media company was settling litigation with its controlling shareholder. The Wall Street Journal reports that the broadcaster’s upheaval leaves two open board seats, potentially making a merger more likely. Journal subscribers can read the full story here.

The company said in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it received subpoenas from the Manhattan District Attorney and New York City’s Commission on Human Rights and that it is cooperating.

Julie Chen is steping down from The Talk on CBS, one week after her husband Les Moonves left the CBS Corp. under pressure. Chen’s decision is effective immediately, according to two sources close to her. She will address the decision through a videotaped message to viewers on Tuesday’s episode.

While Leslie Moonves ran a great network, he projected little regard for CBS affiliates and even the CBS O&Os. To him, it seems, the affiliates were collection agents for retransmission consent fees who kept too much of the money for themselves. His successor, whomever he or she might be, needs to have a vision for broadcasting that goes beyond being just a bridge to a streaming future and look at affiliates as valuable, inportant partners.

CBS is in a predicament similar to what Fox News Channel faced when Roger Ailes was forced out in 2016 following sexual misconduct charges, felled by #MeToo before it was a movement. In both cases, a creative enterprise thoroughly dominated by one person was suddenly left to fend for itself.

Linda Bloodworth Thomason, one of CBS’s biggest hitmakers, reveals the disgraced mogul kept her shows off the air for seven years: “People asked me for years, ‘What happened to you?’ Les Moonves happened to me.”

While Leslie Moonves is the most powerful CEO brought down yet by sexual misconduct allegations over the past year, CBS is facing criticism for not pushing him out sooner, for thanking him in its announcement and for offering him a potential $120 million in severance. Others say his downfall still serves as a warning that even the most powerful bosses cannot hide.

Joe Ianniello began his tenure as president and acting CEO of CBS by sending out a memo on Monday morning that sought to both rally and calm the company’s employees after the shocking departure of longtime chief executive Leslie Moonves, which was announced Sunday.