One of the most powerful men in network television will step down as early as tomorrow.
CBS chief Les Moonves, who came to CBS in 1995 as President of CBS Entertainment, after serving as President of Warner Bros. Television, has been forced to quit amid growing sexual misconduct allegations, according to multiple media sources, including CBS News.
CBS has reached an exit deal with Moonves after six additional women lodged accusations against the longtime CBS executive in a New Yorker article by Ronan Farrow. Farrow was awarded a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year for his investigative report on sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The 12 women who have accused Moonves have detailed violations including forced oral sex, physical violence, non-consensual touching and groping, and professional retaliation. Many of the women have accused Moonves of seeking to destroy their careers after they rebuffed his advances.
Moonves has denied accusations of non-consensual contact, but admitted to having had sexual interactions with three of the women. He declined to identify to which women he was referring.
The CBS board reportedly hired two law firms to investigate the allegations against Moonves. Sources told CNN that the settlement is intended to resolve months of legal battles between Moonves and Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of CBS.
There are numerous reports that CBS CEO Leslie Moonves will be stepping down in the next 24 hours. According to sources, Moonves’ settlement package will be held back pending the results of an independent sexual misconduct investigation.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 9, 2018
CBS in a tweet wrote Moonves’ settlement package will be “held back” pending the results of an internal investigation into the allegations against him.
“There are numerous reports that CBS CEO Leslie Moonves will be stepping down in the next 24 hours,” the network tweeted. “According to sources, Moonves’ settlement package will be held back pending the results of an independent sexual misconduct investigation.”
Moonves is married to Julie Chen, host of The Talk and Big Brother on CBS.