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The New Yorker's account of allegations of sexual harassment against CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has many disturbing echoes of what has become a long list of predatory behavior by corporate executives [19659002]. , only Mr. Moonves was so daring – or so reckless – that he was starting a civil war against the controlling shareholder of his company knowing, as he must have done, that multiple media inquiries had been conducted on his behavior
. – the potential problems with Mr Moonves' past behavior well before the news recurred last week. Rumors had proliferated almost immediately after the New York Times and The New Yorker published their award-winning presentations by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in October. They intensified after Charlie Rose, a crowd of "CBS This Morning," was fired in November.
In December, CBS executives were informed that Times and Wall Street Journal journalists were demanding allegations of sexual harassment. Mr Moonves, according to a person close to CBS. Earlier in the year, CAS officials spoke to a number of journalists about these allegations, according to this person.
Rumors that Ronan Farrow of the New Yorker, author of the article about Mr. Weinstein, was about to tell a story. Mr. Moonves swept the ranks of the executives and members of the CAS Board of Directors. The rumors were so insistent that Shari Redstone, a CBS board member and vice president, who effectively controls both CBS and Viacom, asked Mr. Moonves if the allegations were true, according to two familiar people with the conversation. Mr. Moonves said the allegations were false, they said.
Redstone also raised concerns about Mr. Moonves' rumored behavior with other CBS directors, said these people. It is not clear what steps, if any, the council has taken to consider the issue. Mrs. Redstone never received a reply from the council
. Nevertheless, the CBS Board of Directors decided to file a lawsuit against the network's controlling shareholder, Mrs. Redstone's holding company, in order to remove her voting rights. . In my interviews, I found no evidence that the directors even discussed the potential vulnerability of Mr. Moonves before making such an important decision.
This is all the more surprising since the board of directors Administration of the SCB has illustrious members. They include Martha Minow, a former dean of Harvard Law School; former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen; Bruce S. Gordon, former president of the National Association for the Advancement of People of Color; and Joseph A. Califano Jr., former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
CBS now says that he is appointing an external law firm to investigate Mr. Moonves and the wider culture at CBS.
A CBS spokesperson commenting on behalf of the administrators, and a spokeswoman for Ms. Redstone declined to comment. Mr. Moonves said in a statement that he could have made some women feel uncomfortable by making advances to them, but "I have never abused my position to harm or hinder the career of someone "
. if Mr. Moonves was sincere with the directors of CBS, including Mrs. Redstone, and if the board has sufficiently dug in the rumors.
"If a board member asks a CEO questions and the CEO is less than candid, then that in itself is the reason for the termination," said Charles M. Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at University of Delaware.
"A company should not fire someone just because there are rumors," Elson said. "And we do not know exactly what was asked and answered, but if a board member asks Moonves if something is happening and that he says no, it's misleading even if the allegations are true." "It's false, it's a reason for dismissal, because once someone misleads you, you can never trust them again."
Rumors about an impending New Article Yorkers appeared this spring at CBS did not materialize, published on April 12, was on President Trump and The National Enquirer.The Times or The Wall Street Journal have also not published an article on the alleged harassment of Mr. Moonves: This may have given Mr. Moonves and CBS a false sense of security.On May 17, the CBS Board of Directors authorized the lawsuit against Mrs. Redstone's holding company [19659002ItishardtobelievethatcounselwouldhaveallowedthetrialThepurposewasinparttoprotectMrMoonvesfromMrsRedstone'sthreat-ifshehadreasontobelievethatMrMoonveswasfacingseriouschargesofmisconduct
"If you are about to start a war, you do not want the general to lead the charge Last week, while most CBS directors were learning that the New Yorker article was imminent, Mrs. Redstone and two other people named by her holding company were in the dark, according to both people .. Despite months of rumors, CBS had not retained the services of a law firm There is no formal investigation to determine the correctness of the charges.
The law firm that has not yet been selected will have to ask itself difficult questions. harder is for Mr. Moonves, who decided to bet the company on a trial where he knew, better than anyone, what skeletons were in his closet: What were you thinking of?
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