Report: Moonves Lied To CBS Investigators

Les Moonves

Facing multiple sexual misconduct allegations and fearing his career as an entertainment titan was over, Leslie Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, destroyed evidence and misled investigators in an attempt to preserve his reputation and save a lucrative severance deal, according to a draft of a report prepared for the company’s board.

The report, by lawyers hired by the network, says the company has justification to deny Mr. Moonves his $120 million severance. Moonves reigned as one of Hollywood’s most successful and celebrated executives for decades before being forced to step down in September after allegations by numerous women.

The report, a copy of which was reviewed by The NYTimes, says Mr. Moonves “engaged in multiple acts of serious nonconsensual sexual misconduct in and outside of the workplace, both before and after he came to CBS in 1995.” The report includes previously undisclosed allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

The lawyers who conducted the inquiry wrote that they had spoken with Mr. Moonves four times and found him to be “evasive and untruthful at times and to have deliberately lied about and minimized the extent of his sexual misconduct.”

USAToday reports investigators also learned from multiple staff members that Moonves had a company employee "who was 'on call' to perform oral sex" on him.

"A number of employees were aware of this and believed that the woman was protected from discipline or termination as a result of it," a draft of the report reads. "Moonves admitted to receiving oral sex from the woman, his subordinate, in his office, but described it as consensual."

Moonves' lawyer Andrew J. Levander told the Times Tuesday that his client "never put or kept someone on the payroll for the purpose of sex."