CBS Leader Les Moonves accused of Misconduct

The ousted mogul's security detail and office space remains on the network's dime for the next two years, an arrangement some call "unacceptable."
Leslie Moonves may have resigned as CEO of CBS Corp. on Sept. 9 following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, but the company is retaining him for up to two more years as an unpaid adviser, supplying him an office and paying for a security detail. Why?

While a departing CEO is often retained — usually with a hefty salary — to help transition the newcomer, the arrangement with Moonves is raising some eyebrows. "Les Moonves is a serial sexual predator," says Shaunna Thomas, executive director of the women's group UltraViolet. "For CBS to keep him on — even as an unpaid adviser — is wholly unacceptable. He is a danger to their employees and should have no relationship with the company going forward." (Moonves has denied the claims.)

CBS had no comment on the arrangement. But people close to the situation tell THR that the office the company is providing Moonves is likely in Los Angeles near his homes in Malibu and Beverly Hills (he also keeps a residence in New York) at property not owned by CBS, so there's no reason employees need to encounter their embattled former leader.

CBS laid out the plan in an SEC filing that doesn't mention how much it will spend on Moonves, but in 2017 it shelled out $640,552 for his security alone. It shouldn't cost that much going forward, though, since Moonves won't be traveling as often as a mere adviser — and won't be using the company plane. Plus, the filing stipulates only "security services at executive's home."

Click to expand...

TheBigA said:

The protest in that story is crazy. It's like refusing to hire someone because he is an ex-con or recovering alcoholic. That's prejudice. He won't be coming into contact with employees, and having a company-paid security team pretty much guarantees that he won't be making any unwanted advances to anyone.

Click to expand...

Change has never come easily to CBS News.

Even in the age when viewers get instant information on a digital device, the storied division still proudly associates itself with the tradition of journalistic TV giants Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.


inRead invented by Teads

ADVERTISEMENT
But in the last 10 months, the #MeToo movement has shaken the operation to its core. Allegations of sexual misconduct ejected Charlie Rose from his anchor role at “CBS This Morning” in November. The program has declined in ratings this past year after having grown steadily during his tenure.

A second blow came Sept. 12 when Jeff Fager’s long run as executive producer of the newsmagazine “60 Minutes” ended after he faced allegations of inappropriate workplace behavior. His departure stunned his loyal staff of producers and correspondents who saw him as a protector of the network’s journalistic crown jewel.

Adding to the unease in the news division is the tumultuous exit of CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves, who resigned Sept. 9 amid his own sexual harassment scandal, handing the reins to second-in-command Joseph Ianniello.

The crisis comes after a period in which CBS News has effectively positioned itself as a place for serious journalism on TV. Tom Bettag, a former network news producer and visiting fellow at the University of Maryland’s Merrill School of Journalism, believes that image was cultivated by Rose’s presence on “CBS This Morning” and Fager’s stewardship of “60 Minutes,” which remains the most watched news program on television after 50 years.

“They are losing the brand identity they have, and I don’t know how they are going to get back on track,” Bettag said.


COMPANY TOWN
'60 Minutes' executive producer Jeff Fager says a 'harsh' text message got him fired. CBS released a copy of it
SEP 12, 2018 | 3:55 PM
It’s now up to David Rhodes, the 44-year-old president of CBS News, to try to repair the damage while forging a new path. A former executive at Fox News and Bloomberg, he joined CBS News in 2011 when Fager served as chairman of the division and helped oversee the division’s current positioning as a destination for hard news and original reporting.

Unlike Fager, Rhodes did not work his way up the producer ranks at the network. A low-key strategic thinker, he is not in the mold of the larger-than-life characters who roamed the halls of the CBS Broadcast Center during its long history. He remains an enigma to some of the hidebound longtimers in the division.

But Rhodes’ allies, none of whom were authorized to speak on the record, said the change in the CBS executive suite could offer an opportunity to grow the news operation.

While CBS News is profitable, producers were asked to cut their budgets in recent years as cable news and the internet continue to siphon viewers.

The news division’s two daily programs — “CBS This Morning” and “CBS Evening News” — have run behind their broadcast competition on ABC and NBC for years. But “60 Minutes” is still a top 10 prime-time performer. “CBS Sunday Morning” has a devoted following that makes it the most watched morning program on TV. While not a big money maker, the division remains vital to the CBS brand.

Rhodes would like to build on that legacy, and he received some encouragement from Ianniello, who visited CBS News headquarters in Manhattan on Sept. 14. The interim boss said the news division will be included in his plan to boost investment in content, according to two people at the meeting. (A representative for Ianniello declined to comment.)

One network associate of Rhodes said the executive has long been frustrated by the lack of investment in CBS News. The division does not have the revenue that cable news networks generate from subscriber fees. Better-funded competitors such as NBC — part of media conglomerate Comcast — have taken stakes in digital media properties such as BuzzFeed, Snapchat and Vox in order to reach younger news consumers who don’t watch television.

“Joe talked about investing to give us what we need and get out of our way,” the associate said. “David is more optimistic than he was under Les.”

Rhodes has attempted to push CBS News into the digital future with its 24-hour streaming network CBSN, which launched in 2014 and is profitable. It also reaches an audience that is younger than the traditional TV news viewer, but does not have the influence of cable channels such as CNN, Fox News Channel or MSNBC.

Pressure to contain costs has also given CBS News a reputation for holding down talent salaries, angering agents. During negotiations, they would bring up the compensation of Moonves, who earned $70 million a year, according to one former CBS News executive.

Rhodes, who declined to be interviewed, is charged with keeping CBS News profitable while maintaining its standards and managing its talent.

But his goals were not always in sync with Moonves, such as the handling of Rose’s future before misconduct allegations surfaced.

CBS News executives had begun discussions about naming a successor to him in 2017 before the Washington Post reported that the veteran journalist had been accused of sexually harassing women who worked for his PBS talk show.

Earlier that year, Rose, then 75, underwent heart surgery. He appeared tired on the air on some mornings but refused to slow down, often flying to locations overseas on the weekend to conduct interviews.

CBS News executives wanted Rose to announce in early 2018 that he would leave later in the year, giving them enough time to have his successor appear on the program as a fill-in.

But while those plans were gestating, Moonves was in negotiations with Rose’s friend and representative David Geffen on a new two-year extension that would have raised the anchor’s salary $1 million to $5 million a year, said a person familiar with the talks.

The deal was not finalized before Rhodes fired Rose on Nov. 21, a swift dismissal intended to demonstrate that CBS News was serious about changing its workplace culture. An outside law firm continues to conduct an investigation into the company and the news division regarding harassment allegations.

Now Rhodes has to deal with the fallout from Rose’s departure.

The gravitas projected by Rose, even on his bad days, signaled to viewers that “CBS This Morning” was a substantive news alternative to NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Alongside co-anchors Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, the CBS program saw its audience grow in its first five seasons starting in 2012.

The program’s ratings momentum stopped after Rose left. In the 2017-18 TV season that ends this week, “CBS This Morning” will finish with an average of 3.3 million viewers, down 7% from the previous year. (ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today” were down as well.)

Morning shows are the biggest profit drivers for network news. Even in third place, “CBS This Morning” is still the most lucrative program for CBS News, earning $90 million a year.

Rhodes moved John Dickerson, the well-respected moderator of CBS’ top-rated Sunday public affairs show “Face the Nation,” to join King and O’Donnell in the morning in January. But research conducted by CBS shows that 25% of the “CBS This Morning” viewers were tuning in for Rose and have been leaving because he’s no longer there.

Anchor transitions are the toughest part of running a news division, and CBS has a mixed record under Rhodes. The hand-off from longtime “CBS Sunday Morning” host Charles Osgood to former “Today” star Jane Pauley worked flawlessly. The move of Jeff Glor to the “CBS Evening News” — six months after Scott Pelley abruptly departed in June 2017 to be at “60 Minutes” full time — has been far less successful, as the broadcast has fallen deeper into third place behind ABC and CBS.

But the toughest task for Rhodes is naming a replacement for Fager, who fiercely protected the independence of “60 Minutes” just as his predecessor, Don Hewitt, did. CBS News executives have wanted “60 Minutes” to be more integrated into the rest of the news operation.

“They have to right the ship, especially at ‘60 Minutes,’ which has been the centerpiece for so many decades now,” said Betsy West, a former CBS News executive who is now a professor at Columbia Journalism School. “It still does serious, in-depth reporting, the kind of reporting we could use more of these days.”

Fager — who reported directly to Moonves — fought to preserve the broadcast as a self-contained operation, which has served it well. The program continues to score major awards for its reporting. While its profits aren’t at the monstrous levels they were in the 1990s, it still nets $75 million to 80 million a year.

Click to expand...

ShawnHill1 said:

We might as well change this to the "CBS Sexual Misconduct Update" thread, as yet another Eye executive is in trouble for misconduct, although it was more about using sexually-explicit language around the workplace.

The person in question, Vinnie Favale, had up until recently, worked in CBS' late night programming division, and was also a frequent guest on Howard Stern's radio show (and helped get Stern's Saturday late-night show on the air back in the late '90s).

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/03/entertainment/vinnie-favale-cbs/index.html

Click to expand...

RadioPatrol said:

Damn Favale got caught for questionable Emails on a staff member yes the same one that got Jeff Fager Removed from CBS News.

Click to expand...

Please do not wait for us to contact you. If you have information to share, please contact us," the investigators wrote to network employees.
Covington & Burling and Debevoise & Plimpton, the two outside law firms tasked with investigating claims of misconduct at CBS, have already interviewed more than 150 people, according to an email update sent to employees last week and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Current employees, former employees and other "individuals with information pertinent to our investigation" have spoken to investigators.

The update email, which was headlined "A Message from the Independent Investigators," did not say when the investigation would be concluded.

"Our independent investigation is actively continuing on all fronts," the firms said in the email. "We are reporting our findings directly to the Board, not to management. The Board takes these matters extremely seriously and wants a full picture of any issues at the Company so it can address them. The Board also wants to understand the workplace culture at CBS — both its strengths and its weaknesses."

CBS employees were told by investigators, "Please do not wait for us to contact you. If you have information to share, please contact us."

In an SEC filing at the end of September, CBS revealed that it has been subpoenaed by both the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Commission on Human Rights relating to the investigation.

Joe Ianniello, acting CEO of CBS, told employees in a memo in mid-September that "there is no reason to wait on reassessing our culture. It’s incumbent on all of us right now to be a part of this opportunity we have in front of us. As we do, we will strengthen our workplace and strive to become pioneers in this area that is so crucial to our success."

The full memo from the investigators is below.

In August, the CBS Board of Directors retained our law firms – Covington & Burling and Debevoise & Plimpton – to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and retaliation by senior CBS executives, including then-CEO Leslie Moonves and individuals at CBS News, and to assess the workplace culture at CBS more broadly.

Our independent investigation is actively continuing on all fronts. We are reporting our findings directly to the Board, not to management. The Board takes these matters extremely seriously and wants a full picture of any issues at the Company so it can address them. The Board also wants to understand the workplace culture at CBS – both its strengths and its weaknesses.

We hope that anyone who has anything to share about their experience working at CBS, positive or negative – or with knowledge about any issues of harassment, retaliation or discrimination at CBS – will reach out to us at this email or by telephone. We have already spoken with more than 150 individuals with information pertinent to our investigation, including current and former employees. Please do not wait for us to contact you. If you have information to share, please contact us.

Click to expand...

TeaPartyDude said:

More dirt on Moonves. I stand by my earlier prediction the Julie will soon be warbling the old Tammy Wynette song, " D-I-V-O-R-C-E"

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/leslie-moonves-sought-keep-sexual-225255963.html

Click to expand...

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. Mr. 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 New York Times, 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.”

Mr. Moonves shaped the television landscape for more than 30 years. Even before his CBS tenure, he had an outsize role in producing shows like the 1980s sitcom “Full House” and the 1990s megahits “ER” and “Friends.” At CBS, he turned around a moribund network with audience-friendly smashes like “Survivor,” the police procedural “C.S.I.” and its multiple spinoffs, and sitcoms like “How I Met Your Mother” and “Big Bang Theory.” For the past decade, CBS has been the most-watched network.

But in September, Mr. Moonves’s run at the network ended in ignominious fashion when he negotiated his exit shortly after 12 women told The New Yorker that he had sexually harassed or assaulted them. Since then, the possibility that he could still receive his lucrative exit package has infuriated many people.

Click to expand...

Mr. Moonves’s marriage in 2004 to Julie Chen, now the host of “Big Brother,” appears to have been a “bright line” after which his sexual misconduct seemed to have stopped, according to the report.

Click to expand...

TeaPartyDude said:

So Julie was able to satisfy his sexual proclivities for the entire duration of their marriage? I don’t buy it!

Click to expand...

Moonves is believed to have stopped his vile workplace behavior when he wed Chen in 2004, according to the New York Times.

Click to expand...

Kelly A said:

What a weird statement. Maybe you should consider changing careers to writing for the National Enquirer or TMZ? The bottom line; Les was a slime-ball, that's a matter of record. His relationship with his wife and family shouldn't be. That's for them to figure out.

Click to expand...