Les Moonveswas silent about theallegations of sexual misconduct against himduring a 50-minute earnings call to address CBS’ second quarterly results on Thursday, multiple outlets report.
CBS has since launched an investigation into the matter, thoughthe CBS board of directors opted not to vote on suspending Moonvesjust yet.
The 68 year old has also been in a legal battle with Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder in both CBS and Viacom. CBS sued her over her decision to merge CBS with the Redstone family-controlled trust, National Amusements Inc. She, in turn, sued Moonves, claiming he didn’t have the right to strip her control of the network.
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Les Moonves
All hot-button topics were off the table on Thursday’s call, including during its 25-minute Q&A portion.
“In light of pending litigation and other matters, and on the advice of counsel, the scope of today’s call will be limited to the quarterly results of the company,” saidAdam Townsend, CBS’ EVP of corporate finance and investor relations, at the top of the call, Deadline reported.
Moonves then joined the call and, according to Deadline, gave “his usual enthusiastic pitch about all things CBS — boasting about the gains of their streaming services, the strength of its late night programming, and the opportunities coming from the Supreme Court’s recent ruling to legalize sports gambling.
The company, meanwhile, has seen its stock fall more than 9 percentsince the sexual assault allegations arose, NBC News reported, down to $52.70. ButCBS has still seen revenue of $3.47 billion in its second quarter, CBS News reported, and a profit of $659 million.
“We’re as confident as ever that the strategy we have in place continues to set us up for long-term success,” Moonves said on the call,reading from a prepared statement later released online. “During the quarter, each of our three revenue types enjoyed solid growth … where we continue to see healthy gains in both traditional distribution and new digital platforms.”
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Julie Chen and Les Moonves
In Farrow’s piece, six women — including actress Illeana Douglas and writer Janet Jones — who professionally dealt with Moonves between the 1980s and late aughts have accused him of sexual misconduct.
“Four described forcible touching or kissing during business meetings, in what they said appeared to be a practiced routine. Two told me that Moonves physically intimidated them or threatened to derail their careers,” Farrow wrote in his piece. “All said that he became cold or hostile after they rejected his advances, and that they believed their careers suffered as a result.”
The New Yorkerincluded a statement from Moonves, in which he admitted to acting inappropriately in the past.
CBS told the outlet that there have been no misconduct claims or settlements against Moonves.
The company also issued a statement about the exposé, writing, “CBS is very mindful of all workplace issues and takes each report of misconduct very seriously. We do not believe, however, that the picture of our company created inThe New Yorkerrepresents a larger organization that does its best to treat its tens of thousands of employees with dignity and respect. We are seeing vigorous discourse in our country about equality, inclusion, and safety in the workplace, and CBS is committed to being part of the solution to those important issues.”
They have since retained two law firms to investigate both the allegations against Moonves and the culture at the company, CBS News reported.
“I have known my husband, Leslie Moonves, since the late ’90s, and I have been married to him for almost 14 years.Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader,” she tweeted on July 27.
“He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being,” Chen continued. “I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement.”
Chen is the host ofBig Brotherand one of the cohosts ofThe Talk,both of which air on CBS.
Farrow was the man behind some of the original reports that helped uncover the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein (all of which he denies). For that report, Farrow was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
source: people.com
