Leslie Moonves

choi

(1) today's news first:
James B Stewart, Revelation of Moonves's Deceit Was Last Straw for CBS Board. New York Times, Sept 13, 2018 (front page).
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/ ... -moonves-board.html

Quote:

(a) "On a Monday in late July [July 30, 2018], CBS's board of directors convened a conference call to determine the fate of its chairman and chief executive, Leslie Moonves, who had been publicly accused of sexual harassment and assault. * * * What these directors didn't learn until nearly two weeks later, according to a CBS director and people close to the board, is that one of Mr Moonves’s accusers was threatening to go public with her claims. Instead of reporting the situation, Mr Moonves was in the process of trying to find the woman a job at CBS in order to gain her continued silence.  When the board learned about this, even Mr. Moonves's staunchest backers were stunned. Their belief in his credibility was shattered given his previous denials of anything untoward, these people said.

(b) "In May [2018], the [CBS] board made a momentous  decision to file a lawsuit [against Ms Redstone and others]  seeking to dilute Ms Redstone's voting power [Shari Redstone is a daughter of Sumner Redstone] and block a proposed merger of CBS and Viacom. Some board members were reassured by Mr Moonves’s willingness to file the suit. Surely, they reasoned, he wouldn't do so if there were skeletons in his closet about to be bared.

"It is a maneuver that directors concede they probably would have delayed — or dropped altogether — had they known Mr Moonves was in imminent danger.

"The suit caused the board to split into two warring camps, with Ms Redstone and her two allies on one side, and the rest of the board on the other. Some pro-Moonves directors suspected that Ms Redstone had fomented the media investigations, despite her vehement denials.

"So divided was the board that it hired two law firms to conduct the investigation — neither side trusted the choice of the other.

(c) The [New Yorker] magazine's fact-checkers told the company details about what Mr Farrow planned to report [on Moonves]. The article was published [online] on Friday, July 27.

"Two days later, on a Sunday [July 29], Mr Moonves was summoned to address some of his fellow directors. So mistrusted were Ms Redstone and her allies that they were excluded from the gathering.

"Knowing his job was on the line, Mr Moonves used all his persuasive charm to reassure shocked directors that, while there may have been a few episodes with women in his distant past, others mentioned in the article were 'grossly overstated' or simply false, according to people at the meeting. Afterward, the independent directors issued a statement saying that Mr Moonves had their 'full support.'

"The next day [Monday, July 30], the full board — including Ms Redstone and her allies — convened by phone for a regularly scheduled meeting. Ms. Redstone and some other directors felt Mr. Moonves should at least take a leave of absence.

(2)
(a) Ronan Farrow, Trouble at the Top; Allegations of harassment against CBS and its chairman, Les Moonves, have surfaced in the wake of the #MeToo movement. New Yorker, Aug 6, 2018 (print date; which had been online in July).
https://www.newyorker.com/magazi ... f-sexual-misconduct

My comment: This article is quite long, about seven and a half page in print (excluding cartoons unrelated to this article). My recommendation is read the first two sexual assaults (which was what I did).
(b) Ronan Farrow, As Leslie Moonves Negotiates His Exit from CBS, Six Women Raise New Assault and Harassment Claims. New Yorker, Sept 9, 2018 (online date).
https://www.newyorker.com/news/n ... d-harassment-claims