Former CBS Chief Leslie Moonves Settles L-A Ethics Case

Les Moonves

Former CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves has agreed to pay an $11,250 fine to settle a Los Angeles City Ethics Commission complaint that accused him of interfering with a police investigation and inducing a government official to violate laws.

The L-A Times reports the incident dates back to November 2017 when former Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Cory Palka began working with Moonves and other CBS executives to allegedly bury an LAPD complaint made by a woman who had accused Moonves of sexual assault in the 1980s.

At the time, Moonves was the television industry’s most powerful executive. He had presided over CBS for more than two decades, the architect of the network’s dramatic turnaround.

Palka, who has since retired, was then head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood station. He’d known Moonves for nearly a decade because he had been part of Moonves’ security detail for the Grammy Awards for several years.

Moonves & wife Julie Chen

Moonves’ illustrious career soon collapsed amid a widening sex scandal that came to light as part of the #MeToo movement. Moonves, who stepped down from CBS in September 2018, has denied harassing or assaulting women.

His unraveling began Nov. 10, 2017, when a former colleague, Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, was inspired to speak out about her allegations of past dealings with Moonves. She drove to the Hollywood station to file a report against Moonves. Later that night, Palka called CBS officials and alerted them to the existence of Golden-Gottlieb’s report.

Over the next few weeks, Palka, Moonves and one of Moonves’ underlings discussed strategies to thwart Golden-Gottlieb’s report and worked to make sure it didn’t gain traction within the Police Department or the L.A. County district attorney’s office, according to records in the case, which came to light in late 2022 as part of a report by New York Atty. Gen. Leticia James.

James had accused Moonves and CBS of misleading investors about the scope of the sexual harassment uncovered at CBS — information that was damaging to the company’s stock.