Ronan Farrow’s latest #MeToo “bombshell,” directed against Leslie Moonves of CBS
By
David Walsh
1 August 2018
The New Yorker magazine has posted an article by Ronan Farrow detailing allegations of sexual misconduct against Leslie Moonves, the chairman, president and CEO of entertainment conglomerate CBS Corporation.
The piece also claims, more generally, that a “toxic” workplace culture exists at CBS, extending from Moonves, in Farrow’s words, “to important parts of the corporation, including CBS News and ‘60 Minutes,’ one of the network’s most esteemed programs.”
The lengthy piece includes claims by actress-writer Illeana Douglas, writer Janet Jones and producer Christine Peters, as well as those by several anonymous women, that Moonves made sexual advances toward them.
Summing up, Farrow writes, “Six women who had professional dealings with him told me that, between the nineteen-eighties and the late aughts, Moonves sexually harassed them. 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. All said that he became cold or hostile after they rejected his advances, and that they believed their careers suffered as a result.”
Aside from the accusations of the individuals, Farrow provides no evidence that the inappropriate or perhaps illegal actions took place.
Moonves is a powerful corporate executive. According to a compensation study by the Associated Press covering 339 executives at S&P 500 companies, he was the second-highest-paid CEO in the US in 2017, taking in $68.4 million, unchanged from the year before.
Based on Farrow’s article, considerable pressure is being brought to bear…