Investigators have interviewed more than 250 people as they examine allegations of misconduct. But not every accuser has been contacted, and some are hesitant to cooperate.
Leslie Moonves, once the most powerful executive in the television industry, lost a $120 million payout Monday when the CBS board of directors concluded that there were grounds to fire him because of violations of network policy and his “willful failure” to cooperate with the investigation. The board cited a just-concluded report by outside investigators, but the network is not spelling out the details.
On the one hand, #MeToo has taken away a lot of the shame and fear of speaking up about sexual assault, it’s made pariahs of some of the accused — like Moonves and fellow entertainment executive Harvey Weinstein — and it’s given women hope. But it shouldn’t have taken a media spotlight to remove a leader who had so grossly abused his power for years; even then, the inclination of CBS’s board was reportedly to protect him.
FRIDLEY, Minn. (AP) — Garrison Keillor looked comfortable on the small stage as he sang Christmas lullabies, told off-color limericks and spun a tale about a lutefisk dinner at the […]
Former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves will not receive his $120 million severance package after the company’s board of directors determined he was fired “with cause” over sexual misconduct allegations. The board said Monday it reached its decision after finding that Moonves failed to cooperate fully with investigators looking into the allegations. The board also cited what it called Moonves’ “willful and material misfeasance,” violation of company policies and breach of his contract.
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.
Exclusives
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.
COMMENTARY
CBS And A Pattern Of Toxic Masculinity
The pattern of behavior is undeniable: Men who should have been called out for bad behavior instead protected one another, while women who dared raise their voices were punished and paid off.
CBS reached a $9.5 million confidential settlement last year with actress Eliza Dushku after on-set sexual comments from Michael Weatherly, star of the network’s show Bull, made her uncomfortable when she was beginning a run as a recurring character. Dushku was written off the show after complaining about Weatherly’s comments on her appearance and jokes involving sex and rape made in front of cast and crew in March of 2017.
CBS News reached a legal settlement with three women who accused the network of not doing enough to stop one of its anchors, Charlie Rose, from sexually harassing them. The three women had worked for CBS when Mr. Rose was a host of CBS This Morning and a correspondent for 60 Minutes.
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.
Friday’s theatrical release of the documentary, Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes, puts his life story in the public eye again. Two other Ailes projects, a feature film from director Jay Roach and a Showtime miniseries, are also in the works.
The 75-year-old talent manager says the pivotal role he played in the downfall of Moonves — who was fired in September amid a widening sexual harassment scandal — came as a surprise. And so did the withering response to the New York Times story last week.
NEW YORK (AP) — Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says he will cooperate fully with an “impartial investigation” into allegations of sexual misconduct that have been leveled against him. Patheos.com […]
Harvey Weinstein looked on as a judge agreed to dismiss the lone charge related to Lucia Evans, who helped spark the #MeToo movement a year ago when she told The New Yorker that the Hollywood mogul had forced her to perform oral sex in 2004 when she was a college student and fledgling actress.
Covington & Burling and Debevoise & Plimpton, the two outside law firms tasked with investigating claims of misconduct at CBS, have already interviewed more than 150 people, according to an email update sent to employees last week. Current employees, former employees and other “individuals with information pertinent to our investigation” have spoken to investigators.
In an open letter to Christine Blasey Ford, the broadcast journalist reveals that she was sexually assaulted in college by her doctor, the same doctor who delivered her.
A CBS executive has been placed on leave after multiple individuals spoke to CNN accusing the senior vice president of talent for CBS Televisions Studios, Vincent “Vinnie” Favale, of using sexual and homophobic language in the workplace.
COMMENTARY
Media Moguls Harmed More Than Women
Margaret Sullivan: Top CBS figures are gone, but we continue to live in the misogynistic world they helped create.
The longtime CBS News executive and 60 Minutes executive producer’s dismissal comes four days after CBS’s chief executive, Leslie Moonves, stepped down following numerous misconduct allegations.
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.
The separation agreement with Leslie Moonves has $120 million going into a trust pending the results, but also a broad confidentiality clause and the possibility of private arbitration.
CBS Corp. said on Monday it will pay $120 million to former Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves if an internal investigation into allegations of harassment fails to provide grounds for his dismissal.
The fall of Les Moonves is stunning for the sheer velocity with which one of the most powerful moguls in the media business got dethroned. Once regarded as creative executive with few equals, Moonves now leaves a complicated legacy clouded by the allegations of sexual misconduct made this summer by a dozen women.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, Moonves said he was “deeply saddened to be leaving the company” and calling the growing list of sexual harassment and assault allegations leveled against him “untrue allegations.”
CBS announced its chairman’s exit Sunday night, hours after The New Yorker magazine posted a story with a second round of ugly accusations against Moonves. CBS said $20 million will be donated to one or more organizations that support #MeToo and workplace equality for women. That sum will be deducted from any severance due Moonves, a figure that won’t be determined until an outside investigation led by a pair of law firms is finished. In addition, CBS’s board also announced Sunday that Redstone’s National Amusements will not propose a merger between CBS and Viacom, which Redstone had been urging, for two years. Six new CBS board members were also appointed.
The former CBS News and PBS journalist late Thursday filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit by the former employees. He’s joining co-defendant CBS, which is also seeking to get the case thrown out of New York state court. Rose was fired by CBS and PBS last year for sexual misconduct.
In a Manhattan Supreme Court filing, the network’s news division asked to be dismissed from a suit filed by three women who claim Charlie Rose, the former CBS This Morning co-host, subjected them to “blatant and repeated sexual harassment.”
The ousted anchor can’t force PBS to hand over internal documents dating back decades and two of his claims have been dismissed.
A Boston woman is suing celebrity chef and former host of ABC’s The Chew and Iron Chef America regular, claiming he groped her at a bar. At least seven women have already accused Batali of alleged inappropriate touching in public, causing him to lose his television jobs.
