CBS CEO Leslie Moonves Is OUT!

Back in July, Leslie Moonves– the bigwig who oversees the entire CBS Corporation operation– was accused of sexual misconduct. Ronan Farrow wrote a huge piece in The New Yorker, speaking to 30 current and former CBS employees, who said the culture of harassment has been widespread.

But Moonves’s private actions belie his public statements. Six women who had professional dealings with him told me that, between the nineteen-eighties and the late aughts, Moonves sexually harassed them. Four described forcible touching or kissing during business meetings, in what they said appeared to be a practiced routine. Two told me that Moonves physically intimidated them or threatened to derail their careers. All said that he became cold or hostile after they rejected his advances, and that they believed their careers suffered as a result. “What happened to me was a sexual assault, and then I was fired for not participating,” the actress and writer Illeana Douglas told me. All the women said they still feared that speaking out would lead to retaliation from Moonves, who is known in the industry for his ability to make or break careers. “He has gotten away with it for decades,” the writer Janet Jones, who alleges that she had to shove Moonves off her after he forcibly kissed her at a work meeting, told me. “And it’s just not O.K.”

You can read the entire thing here.

Moonves quickly released a statement of his own.

“Throughout my time at CBS, we have promoted a culture of respect and opportunity for all employees, and have consistently found success elevating women to top executive positions across our company,” he said in a statement. “I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely. But I always understood and respected—and abided by the principle—that ‘no’ means ‘no,’ and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone’s career. This is a time when we all are appropriately focused on how we help improve our society, and we at CBS are committed to being part of the solution.”

Yowza. Following the report, CBS refused to take immediate action. It didn’t suspend him or anything.

“CBS Corporation announced today that its Board of Directors is in the process of selecting outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation. No other action was taken on this matter at today’s board meeting,” CBS said in a statement.

WELLLLLLLLL, guess what. He’s stepping down.

BREAKING: It's a done deal. Les Moonves is stepping down from CBS as part of a wide-ranging corporate settlement. The deal is expected to be announced by Monday morning. https://t.co/nV57srRMjq

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 9, 2018

Via CNN:

The CBS board of directors is likely to announce the deal by Monday morning, according to two executives with direct knowledge of the matter.

Lawyers were said to be putting the finishing touches on the settlement on Sunday. Internally, it is being called a “global settlement,” meant to resolve months of litigation between Moonves and Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of CBS.

Moonves and Redstone were locked in a tug of war even before July 27, when Ronan Farrow first reported on alleged harassment by Moonves.

Farrow published a followup on Sunday. He wrote that “six additional women have accused the television executive of sexual misconduct, as the board of the CBS Corporation weighs the terms of his departure.”

The CBS board had already hired two law firms to do an investigation.

Now that the exit deal has been reached, the veteran broadcasting executive will step down before those investigations are finished, one of the sources said.

So there you have it. He’s out.