Former CBS CEO Les Moonves faces a dozen assault and harassment claims made against him.
His days at the network, now as unpaid consultant, could end on short notice if the network finds any credibility in any of the claims. At that point he’ll be asked to leave the building.
As part of his settlement with CBS, Moonves is donating $20 million of his severance package to one or more organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace.
Meanwhile, Moonves has already been dropped from the Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Most Powerful People in Entertainment list. Last year he was ranked fourth, the top television executive in the world.
Standing by his side, through all the turmoil, is his wife of almost 14 years, Julie Chen.
Chen-Mooves, as she now refers to herself, remains one of the best broadcasters of modern times. Before she took the advice of Moonves and headed to the entertainment division, she was the highly qualified and credible anchor of the CBS Morning News. She is one of the best interviewers on television.
While Chen is under contract to host the upcoming celebrity season of Big Brother, she is likely to bail from the network when her husband finally leaves. She has already resigned from her daytime show The Talk.
So what is a former television top honcho and his high profile wife to do when retirement is still years off?
First, Moonves has hired superstar attorney Daniel Petrocelli, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles.
Petrocelli has been at the center of several high-profile Hollywood cases, including representing Warner Bros in its long-running dispute over rights to Superman. He also was the attorney representing AT&T in its recent antitrust trial against the U.S. Department of Justice, which was attempting to block the Time Warner merger. AT&T won decisively in a landmark decision.
Petrocelli also was the lawyer for Donald Trump in a pair of class action lawsuits against Trump University; the sides reached a settlement agreement in March 2017.
Next, Moonves has added to his public-relations team, Chris Giglio, the president of HL Strategic Solutions, a savvy rehabilitator of corporate images.
Crisis management is Giglio’s expertise, and it’s what Moonves needs most.
There is zero chance he would end up at a public company like Disney—which could use a clear successor to Bob Iger—or at Apple, which could also use him to help build its burgeoning media business. Both these companies won’t take a risk on Moonves, regardless of how the arbitration is decided.
It’s probable he will end up running a production company of some sort, depending on how the image rehabilitation goes.
Could politics be the answer?
A lifelong Democrat, who had a framed photograph of him with Presidents Obama and Clinton in both his New York and L.A. offices, Moonves may attempt a comeback in the form of a political career. He has been open to being appointed to a variety of posts.
His talents are many, even while his personal behavior has been abhorrent. But considering the current President of the United States (with his own success on reality TV) has also been accused of sexual harassment by two dozen women, politics may not be out of the question.
That’s where Petrocelli, Giglio and the PR firm comes in. Make Moonves marketable, someway and somehow.
Can Julie Chen help her husband rehabilitate his image so they can resume their Hollywood lifestyle?
Most friends say privately don’t count them out.