Leslie Moonves, former chairman and chief executive officer of CBS Corp., has agreed to pay $2.5 million to resolve an ongoing investigation following his departure from the company. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)
New York’s Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday released a comprehensive report detailing an elaborate cover-up at the highest level by CBS in late 2017 and 2018 to try to stem allegations of sexual harassment by former boss Leslie Moonves.
The report comes five years after a Los Angeles Police Department captain tipped CBS executives, telling them that a woman had come to the department’s Hollywood station to report that Moonves allegedly assaulted her in the 1980s would have.
“Someone walked into the station about a few hours ago and made allegations against your boss of sexual assault,” the police captain said in a Nov. 10, 2017 voicemail message left for a CBS executive, according to the report. “It’s confidential, as you know, but give me a call.”
Over the next several months, the LAPD captain — whose role was not previously disclosed — secretly provided Moonves and CBS executives with status updates about the LAPD’s investigation, as well as personal details about the alleged accuser, the attorney general’s office said. The captain slipped a copy of the prosecutor’s report to CBS, and senior CBS officials “began to investigate the victim’s personal circumstances and those of her family,” the report said.
The police captain was friends with CBS executives because he was part of Moonves’ security detail for the Grammy Awards for several years, according to the document.
Both sides sought to downplay the seriousness of the woman’s complaint, which came as the #MeToo movement reached boiling point. CBS executives were assured by the captain that the LAPD “has implemented controls to prevent news of the police report from getting to the press,” the document said.
“Hopefully we can kill media from PD. Then introduce yourself [sic] What [Complainant #1] wants,” Moonves wrote to the captain and a CBS aide in a text message obtained by the attorney general.
More than eight months passed before the public became aware of the allegations against Moonves.
The story goes on
“CBS and its senior management were aware of multiple allegations of sexual assault against Mr. Moonves and for months have deliberately concealed these allegations from regulators, shareholders and the public,” New York Atty said in a statement. General Letitia James’ office.
James announced that CBS and Moonves would pay $30.5 million, with much of the money going to CBS shareholders.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore told the Times that his department only recently became aware of the allegations involving a senior official. The department later identified the officer as Cmdr. Cory Palka, who captained the Hollywood network in 2017 and 2018 and is now retired.
“Most appalling is the alleged breach of trust by a member of the LAPD in a sexual assault victim who is among the most vulnerable,” Moore said. “This undermines public trust and does not reflect our values as an organization.”
Capt. Kelly Muniz, an LAPD spokeswoman, said the department is “fully cooperating with the New York and California Attorneys General’s Offices” and has also launched an internal investigation.
The New York Attorney General’s report included other findings, including how the late former CBS communications chief Gil Schwartz sold more than 160,000 CBS shares in June 2018 as the company tried to contain the explosive allegations. Schwartz sold the stock with CBS approval, raking in more than $8.8 million in net proceeds, knowing harmful information could come out, and it did so a few weeks later.
The attorney general’s report also states that Moonves allegedly misled investors about the extent of the sexual harassment uncovered at CBS — information that hurt CBS stock.
Moonves may not serve as an officer or officer of any public company doing business in New York for five years unless written approval is obtained from James’ office.
Moonves declined to comment through a spokesman. Moonves has denied the allegations of sexual harassment.
Paramount Global separately announced that it and Moonves had agreed to pay the New York Attorney General’s Office $9.75 million to resolve persistent claims from shareholders over its handling of previous sexual harassment allegations. Moonves will contribute $2.5 million of that amount.
The company also said its insurance provider will settle a separate $14.75 million class action lawsuit filed by shareholders.
“The attempts by CBS and Leslie Moonves to silence victims, lie to the public and mislead investors can only be described as reprehensible,” James said. “As a public company, CBS has failed in its most fundamental duty to be honest and transparent with the public and investors. After trying to bury the truth to protect their assets, today CBS and Leslie Moonves are paying millions of dollars for their wrongdoing.”
The Los Angeles Times reported in 2018 on accuser Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb’s allegations as a key piece in CBS’s high-profile investigation into Moonves’ alleged misconduct.
Golden-Gottlieb, who has since died, was a television show development executive in the mid-1980s while working with Moonves at Lorimar Productions in Culver City. She told the Times that in a parking lot outside a restaurant, Moonves violently grabbed her head and hit it in his crotch, then ejaculated in her mouth.
Moonves denied the allegations, and the Los Angeles County Attorney’s Office declined to press charges because the statute of limitations had expired.
The attorney general’s report details CBS’s campaign to cover up the issue — while publicly claiming that the company does not condone sexual harassment.
A week after Golden-Gottlieb filed her complaint, CBS executives grappled with reports of inappropriate behavior from morning show host Charlie Rose. Moonves approved of the decision to fire Rose and told reporters that he felt Rose had to go.
Moonves requested a face-to-face meeting with the police captain on November 25, 2017. He and a subordinate, Ian Metrose, met with the captain at a restaurant and winery in Westlake Village to plan strategy. According to the report, the officer volunteered and wore a suit instead of his uniform. Metrose could not be reached for comment.
“During the meeting, Moonves said he wanted the LAPD investigation to be closed and discussed contacting other officers,” prosecutors wrote.
Four days later, at Variety magazine’s Innovate Summit, Moonves called #MeToo “a tipping point,” according to the report. Moonves was quoted as saying, “It’s important that a company’s culture doesn’t allow it.”
The next day, the report said, Metrose Moonves delivered a message from the LAPD captain advising her that another police officer would be completing the report on Golden-Gottlieb’s complaint the following week: “[H]However, it is a definite DENIAL – no witnesses and/or corroborating evidence.”
As The Times previously reported, members of the CBS board of directors became aware of Golden-Gottlieb’s allegations in early 2018. An outside law firm was brought in to verify information about allegations and the police investigation, but concluded that “no further investigation was warranted,” sources told The Times in 2018.
Behind the scenes, then-CBS Deputy Chair Shari Redstone, the majority shareholder, had learned from reporters about allegations of sexual harassment involving Moonves, the report said. She told another board member about reporters following the Moonves story.
Redstone began campaigning for an investigation into the board — and for sweeping changes at the company.
In July 2018, The New Yorker magazine published the first of several articles by investigative reporter Ronan Farrow detailing allegations by six women who claimed Moonves had assaulted or molested them. Farrow’s report prompted swift action. The CBS board of directors commissioned two well-known law firms to investigate Moonves and the corporate culture. The board then fired Moonves on September 9, 2018.
That day, the LAPD captain emailed Metrose and said, “So sorry to hear this news, Ian. It makes me sick. We worked so hard to try and avoid that day.”
The captain sent a message to Moonves two days later: “I am deeply sorry that this has happened. I will always stand by you and pledge my allegiance to you This.”
With Wednesday’s revelations, CBS seeks to close a troubling chapter that devastated Moonves’ career and ultimately sparked the company’s merger with Viacom.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle to resolve this matter relating to the events of 2018 with the New York Attorney General’s Office without any admission of liability or wrongdoing,” a Paramount spokesman said in a statement.
The New York Attorney General’s investigation was one of several open investigations into how CBS handled the 2018 sexual harassment scandal.
A group of shareholders also sued because the scandal was destroying the value of their holdings. New York authorities, including the New York Human Rights Commission and the New York County District Attorney, quickly launched investigations.
In 2018, shareholders Gene Samit and John Lantz, among others, filed class action lawsuits in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. A judge later consolidated the lawsuits into one, with the lead plaintiff being Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern California.
Investors alleged multiple violations of the federal securities law, including that executives made “materially false and misleading statements” and that the company failed to disclose important information to investors.
“With the exception of one testimony by Mr. Moonves at an industry event in November 2017, at which he allegedly acted as an agent of CBS, all allegations of all other allegedly false and misleading statements have been dismissed,” Paramount said in its filing.
The company eventually agreed to settle with the plaintiffs “for $14.75 million to be paid by the company’s insurers,” the filing reads. Final approval of the settlement is pending.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.