Dinah Kirgo Says The Moonves Damaged His Career After Pushing Him Back

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We reported that Leslie Moonves, long-time President and CEO of CBS Corporation, has been charged by many women make raw and unwanted sexual advances to them and then retaliate against them professionally when he has been rebuffed. Ronan Farrow published this report in The New Yorker on Friday.

We will now hear one of the women say that she experienced this. Dinah Kirgo is an award-winning television writer at the Emmy Awards. She wrote for "The Tracey Ullman Show" and "Beverly Hills, 90210". She told Farrow that she had met Moonves for the first time in the early 1980s while he was vice president of a production company in partnership with Columbia Pictures Television. Dinah Kirgo publicly expresses it for the first time since the publication of the article. And Dinah Kirgo is with us now from Los Angeles.

Dinah, thanks for talking with us

DINAH KIRGO: Oh, thanks, Michel.

MARTIN: So you and your sister Julie, who is your producer? partner, had a meeting with him, and you left this meeting thinking that you had an agreement. What happened after that?

KIRGO: Okay. Julie and Leslie and I all felt really good after the meeting. You know, it went very well. We had known him – not very well, but we were friendly with him – and Julie and I felt both, OK, I think that's where we'll be for a while.

And I came home from my meeting in the middle of the afternoon. And my phone was ringing, and that was Leslie. And he said, boy, what a nice meeting. I said, I know. We are really happy to work with you. And he said, well, I think we should have dinner. And I said, great. Julie and I would like to have dinner with you. And he said no, just you and me.

And I'm not really sure what I said in response, but he said, look, you're really expensive, and I need to know you're worth it. And it really shook me a little. And I said something like, Leslie, I do not think your wife would appreciate that kind of dinner. And the conversation ended, and he went from very friendly to very cold. And I never heard from him again. Julie has never heard of him again. And, of course, we have never worked together.

MARTIN: Now, The New Yorker reported that CBS responded to this account by saying that Moonves has no recollection of the meeting or the phone call. 19659003] MARTIN: And we should also say that Moonves said in a statement about the broader report on this conduct that he says – and I quote – "I recognize that there are times of decades where I was able to make some women feel uncomfortable These are mistakes, and I regret them a lot, but I've always understood, respected and respected the principle that no, and I do not have any. I have never abused my position to harm or hinder the career of anyone, but I understand that you believe that he has retaliated against you.

KIRGO: Well, in the simple fact that he did not hire us after that he was rebuffed by me.There was no offer forthcoming.So say that he did not have a job. is not responsible for harming someone 's career – if you do not get a job because you pushed back someone, that' s a pity.

Martin : What was it in recent days as your story and those of others have come out?

KIRGO: I did not read Ronan Farrow's article until Friday. And I was really completely disgusted by the stories of other women. And I felt like, my god, as if my story was so minor. And I was lucky on that – and my sister and I were together in this meeting, so nothing happened to me physically with Leslie. But I was so upset. And people think we are trying to bring down these guys, and that's – at least in my case, it's wrong. It is a question of stopping this behavior.

MARTIN: Over the years, has this incident been with you? I mean, how – what role do you think it plays in your life?

KIRGO: Well, I think it never went away. I mean, it's like – it was this incident. At the time, I had a strong reaction, of course, but I was able to get rid of it because I kept working.

But the fact is that sometimes you think it's easier to let things go, and then, one day, that's no longer the case. And when the whole story of Harvey Weinstein broke out, she just pushed all the buttons, and I just said, that's the moment – finally. You know, there is now a support system. In the Writers Guild of America, they formed a task force on sexual harassment over the past year. And if I had any support at the time, I hope I could have enjoyed it. But I did not know what to do. I did not even think that there was anything I could do.

MARTIN: Before you leave, what do you think it should happen now?

KIRGO: Well, I hope it is not easier. This world is such a rarefied world. But I know it happens everywhere. But I think that as much as we can keep that in the center of things – you know, I'm sitting here, are we in the middle of that? Are we at the beginning of this story? I am not sure where we are. But, as uncomfortable as it is, I think we have to keep that out of the way so that if people even think of doing that kind of thing and think that everything is fine, they will think about it.

MARTIN: It's Dinah Kirgo. She's an Emmy Award-winning writer and we talked to her in Los Angeles

Dinah Kirgo, thanks a lot for talking to us.

KIRGO: Thank you, Michel. Transcription provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.