CBS Board To Investigate Allegations Against Les Moonves

Les Moonves

The CBS Corp. board of directors will investigate allegations of sexual misconduct that are to be raised against CEO Leslie Moonves in a report in the New Yorker expected to be published today. Moonves status as CEO is unchanged and independent members of CBS’ board voiced their “full support” at present for Moonves and the rest of his management team.

According to Variety, the allegations, some decades-old, are surfacing as the 68-year-old Moonves and CBS are embroiled in a legal battle with parent company National Amusements Inc. (NAI) for control of the company. Moonves and Shari Redstone, vice chairman of CBS Corp. and Viacom and president of NAI, have been at odds over the strategic direction of CBS and are set to fight it out in a Delaware courtroom in October.

Moonves is just the latest media titan to come under fire for allegations of sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior and abuse of power in workplace settings. In the past two years, dozens of women have come forward with stories of harassment at the hands of powerful figures as the #MeToo movement emboldened women and raised the sensitivity in corporate America to abusive and coercive activity in the workplace.

If Moonves were to be forced out at CBS, he would not be easy to replace. One of the industry’s most powerful figures, Moonves is highly regarded for his creative skills and instincts about shows and stars with the potential to yield broad-based hits. As CEO, he also impressed investors by navigating CBS through the digital upheaval of the past decade. He took CBS into the OTT arena with the CBS All Access and Showtime standalone services, and CBS reaped the rewards of licensing its vast library of TV programs to Netflix and other digital platforms.

Moonves is known for maintaining a close-knit team of top executives who have long worked with him at CBS and some even before during his years at Lorimar and Warner Bros. TV.

CBS shares fell 5 percent Friday on the news that Moonves is accused of sexual misconduct in an upcoming Ronan Farrow expose.