Allegations of sexual misconduct cloud future of Moonves at CBS, Consumer



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Sat, 28 Jul 2018 – 10:33 AM

[LOS ANGELES] For the first time in 23 years, CBS may have to consider a future without Leslie Moonves.

Allegations of sexual misconduct against the president and CEO of CBS complicate an already messy situation for the broadcaster: His board will investigate Moonves at the same time as he is working with him in a fight for control of the most watched American television network.

An article in Ronan Farrow's New Yorker on Friday accuses Mr. Moonves, 68, of harassing six women, including forced touching and kissing at police meetings. business, in incidents going back up to 30 years. The women say that they were physically intimidated and that their careers suffered when they refused her advances. The article then describes a culture of harassment at CBS.

"If the claims are well-founded, then we expect Mr. Moonves to be almost forced to resign from his role as CEO and advisor" Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen & Co, wrote in a note

The long-time CEO is stuck in a battle with National Amusements, led by Shari Redstone, about his desire to recombine the company with Viacom, another family. Mr. Moonves rejected his request and his board of directors tried to dilute the 80% stake of National Amusements in the company. With Mr. Moonves, a merger becomes more likely, Viacom's chairman, Bob Bakish, presiding probably the merged company, Mr. Creutz.

Independent Directors

Independent members of the CBS Board of Directors committed to investigate the conduct of the Chief Executive Officer and retained the services of Proskauer Rose LLP Law Firm. division following all Exceptions against Charlie Rose anchor, but did not say who will handle the new investigation.

CBS will report its financial results next week, and hold its annual meeting of shareholders on August 10th.

million. Moonves, in the article, recognizes There are dozens of years ago, he may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances, but he has never used his position to harm someone's career.

"They have to do a thorough examination, even in the distant past. said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, an expert on CEOs and leadership who teaches at the Yale School of Management. "He was still at CBS then, if there was continued misconduct, a second level needs to be done, that obscures it in this" MeToo "era, it's the world in which we live. "

By a spokeswoman Friday, she hopes the investigation into sexual misconduct will be "thorough, open and transparent". She also challenged with CBS for citing her dispute with the company in a statement about the allegations of New Yorker

Singular Presence

Men in the media and entertainment have lost their jobs over the past year about allegations of sexual misconduct, including movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the boss of Pixar's animation John Lasseter and Rose. The latter organized a morning show for CBS, and his behavior is one of the themes discussed in Mr. Farrow's play

M. Moonves has been a unique presence at CBS for decades. A former actor, he took over the network in 1995 and became head of the parent company in 2006. Many CBS executives worked with him for at least a decade, and some, including the head of programming, followed Moonves to CBS. his previous work running Warner Brothers television.

million. Moonves is known as one of the best show selectors in Hollywood. CBS has been the most watched network in the United States for most of the past decade, relying on a wide range of comedies, procedural broadcasts like CSI and live sports .

Long-standing Board of Directors

The board of directors that will review the new allegations includes many directors of the media company for more of a decade. All but three – Shari Redstone, David Andelman and Robert Klieger – supported the effort to dilute the Redstone family's vote control. A trial is scheduled for the month of October at the Chancery Court of Delaware

Although this is a distraction for counsel, allegations of sexual misconduct will likely not be taken into account in the trial of the Delaware, said Larry Hamermesh, a law professor at Widener University. in the corporate statutes of Delaware

CBS shares fell 6.1% to US $ 54.01 on Friday in New York. The Company is scheduled to release its second quarter financial results on August 2 and hold its annual meeting of shareholders on August 10.

Leaders must be held accountable for creating cultures that allow or allow bad behavior, according to Linda Seabrook, "

" Working cultures that marginalize, denigrate, disrespect or objectify women are the types organizations where this type of behavior is not controlled, "she said.

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