Les Moonves has resigned from his role as Chairman of the Board, CEO and President of CBS Corporation, “effective immediately.”
Six different women, four of whom worked with him professionally, accused Moonves of sexual harassment in a New Yorker exposé published this past July.
Six more came forward in a report published on Sunday. These new accounts included claims of Moonves exposing himself, physical violence, forced sex, and intimidation.
The New Yorker stated that Moonves, 68, acknowledged three of the latter encounters but claimed that they were all consensual.
“I have never used my position to hinder the advancement or careers of women,” he said in a statement. “In my 40 years of work, I have never before heard of such disturbing accusations.”
Chief Operating Officer (COO) Joe Ianiello will take over as interim CEO while the board searches for a Les Moonves replacement.
CBS Corporation announced on Sunday that it and Moonves will donate $20 million to “one or more organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace.”
The donation will be deducted from any severance payment Moonves might receive, though the board said that he will not get any payment until an independent investigation into the allegations has concluded.
Here’s everything to know about Les Moonves.
Les Moonves is a New York native
Moonves spent his childhood in Valley Stream on Long Island.
He attended Bucknell University for pre-med (because that’s what “every Jewish kid from Long Island had to do,” he told Bloomberg last year), but then switched gears and studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
Before his business career, Les Moonves was an actor
Moonves has nine acting credits (mostly TV), including a role as a bad guy in The Six Million Dollar Man. He later gave up this pursuit.
“I think fairly early on, I was smart enough to realize that — probably three or four or five years into my acting career — that I was sort of a mediocre actor,” Moonves told Bloomberg in 2017. “And I looked around and I said, ‘You know what? There are people who do this a lot better than I do. There’s probably something else I could do in the business where I could satisfy my creative juices and still be involved,’ and it ended up being a good decision.”
Moonves said that throughout his short acting career, he became fascinated with what everyone else on set did, so the transition into the business side of things made sense (he jumped on the opportunity to become a junior executive at a production company).
“Being a mediocre actor, I knew [who] good actors were,” he admitted. “I had very good creative instincts, I watched a lot of television, I saw what was working and what wasn’t working and I became good at it. I became good at picking shows.”
Moonves joined Lorimar Telepictures in 1985 (a portrait of Moonves from that year is pictured below) and later became its president in 1989. After a merge with Warner Bros. — when Warner Communications, Inc. acquired Lorimar — Moonves was promoted to head of Warner Bros. Television in 1993.
Les Moonves started at CBS in 1995
In July 1995, Moonves joined CBS as president of CBS Entertainment.
Under Moonves’ reign, the network produced big shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Survivor, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Big Bang Theory.
Moonves was promoted to CBS Corporation’s President and CEO in January 2006.
CBS Television Network acquired millions of new subscribers with premium cable service Showtime Networks and streaming service CBS All Access. In 2014, when CBS All Access’ launched, Moonves called it a capitalization “on technological advances that help consumers engage with our world-class programming.”
He became Chairman in February 2016.
Les Moonves has a wife and four children
Since 2004, Moonves has been married to CBS anchor, producer and TV host Julie Chen.
“I have known my husband, Leslie Moonves, since the mid-90s, and I have been married to him for almost 14 years,” Chen tweeted back in July. “Leslie is a good man and loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader. He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement.”
Chen, 48, was referring to Moonves’ response to the first New Yorker exposé. He’d said at the time, “I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely. But I always understood and respected—and abided by the principle—that ‘no’ means ‘no,’ and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone’s career.”
After Moonves resigned, Chen announced that she would be taking a break from co-hosting CBS’ The Talk, though her hosting gig on Big Brother still stands.
Moonves and Chen have one child together, 8-year-old Charlie.
Moonves has three other children — Sara, Michael and Adam — with ex-wife Nancy Wiesenfeld whom he was married to from 1978 through 2003.
Les Moonves helped found a commission linked to the #MeToo movement
Moonves served as a commissioner on a board, made up of top industry executives, formed to combat sexual harassment in the entertainment industry.
The Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace is currently chaired by Anita Hill and was created in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal last year.
Moonves stepped down from the commission shortly after the first set of sexual misconduct allegations surfaced this summer.
“We remain eager to fill this vacancy, and will invite CBS’ new CEO to serve as a Commissioner once the Board of Directors selects Mr. Moonves’ permanent replacement,” Hill said in a statement. “The reason is simple. The Commission was created when 25 of Hollywood’s most significant institutions — including major studios, television networks, streaming services, music companies, talent agencies, trade associations, and unions — accepted the invitation to work together to set best policies and practices aimed at eliminating sexual harassment and bias in the entertainment industry.”
