The New York attorney general’s office released a sweeping report Wednesday that detailed an elaborate cover-up at the highest levels of CBS in late 2017 and 2018 to try to contain allegations of sexual harassment by former chief Leslie Moonves.
The report comes five years after a Los Angeles Police Department captain tipped off CBS executives, telling them a woman had come to the department’s Hollywood station to report that Moonves had allegedly assaulted her in the 1980s.
The unidentified LAPD captain secretly provided Moonves and CBS executives with status updates on the LAPD’s investigation for months, as well as personal details about the alleged accuser, the attorney general’s office said. The captain slipped CBS a copy of the accuser’s report and top CBS executives then “'began investigating the victim’s personal circumstances’ and that of her family,” the report said.
The police captain was friendly with CBS executives because he had been part of Moonves’ security detail for the Grammy Awards for several years, according to the document. Both sides sought to downplay the gravity of the woman’s complaint, which came as the #MeToo movement was reaching a fever pitch. CBS executives were assured by the captain that LAPD “implemented controls to prevent news of the police report from leaking to the press,” the document said.
“Hopefully we can kill media from PD. Then figure (sic) what (the alleged victim) wants,” Moonves wrote in one text message to the captain and an assistant obtained by the attorney general.
More than seven months went by before the public became aware of the allegations against Moonves.
“CBS and its senior leadership knew about multiple allegations of sexual assault made against Mr. Moonves and intentionally concealed those allegations from regulators, shareholders and the public for months,” according to a statement from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office.
James announced that CBS and Moonves would pay $30.5 million, with much of the money going to CBS shareholders.
The report contained other findings, including how CBS’ chief communications officer Gil Schwartz, who has since died, sold more than 160,000 shares of CBS’ stock, which the document said constituted insider trading. There was also an investor conference in which Moonves’ allegedly misled investors about the scope of the sexual harassment uncovered at CBS, saying the company was only starting to learn of the issues.
Moonves will be barred from serving as an executive or corporate officer at a public company that does business in New York for five years, unless he obtains written approval from her office. Moonves, through a spokesman, declined to comment.
An LAPD spokeswoman wasn’t immediately available for comment.
The Los Angeles Times reported about the accuser — Phyllis Golden Gottlieb — in 2018, saying that her allegations had become a key piece in CBS’ high-profile investigation into the alleged misconduct of Moonves.
She was a TV show development executive in the mid-1980s when she worked with Moonves at Lorimar Productions in Culver City. She said Moonves invited her to lunch, but instead forcibly grabbed her head and slammed it into his crotch, then ejaculated into her mouth.
Moonves denied the allegations and Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to bring charges because the statute of limitations had expired.
Earlier Wednesday, Paramount Global announced that it and Moonves had agreed to pay the New York attorney general’s office $9.75 million to resolve lingering shareholder claims over the company’s handling of past allegations of sexual harassment. Moonves will contribute $2.5 million to settle the matter.
The company also said its insurance provider would resolve a separate $14.75 million class-action lawsuit.
“CBS and Leslie Moonves’ attempts to silence victims, lie to the public, and mislead investors can only be described as reprehensible,” James said. “As a publicly traded company, CBS failed its most basic duty to be honest and transparent with the public and investors. After trying to bury the truth to protect their fortunes, today CBS and Leslie Moonves are paying millions of dollars for their wrongdoing.”
Wednesday’s disclosure suggests that the company is trying to close a troubling chapter that destroyed Moonves’ career and triggered the company’s eventual merger with Viacom.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle to resolve this matter concerning events from 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 probe was one of several open investigations into how CBS handled the fallout of the 2018 sexual harassment scandal, which began with allegations that Moonves had sexually abused women in the 1980s and 1990s. Moonves denied the allegations.
Investigative reporter Ronan Farrow’s report, contained in The New Yorker magazine, prompted swift action. CBS’ board hired two prominent law firms to investigate Moonves and the company’s culture. The board then fired Moonves on Sept. 9, 2018.
A group of shareholders also sued, alleging the scandal was destroying the value of their holdings. New York agencies, including the New York City Commission on Human Rights and the New York County district attorney, quickly opened inquiries. The CBS controversy erupted nearly 10 months after the Harvey Weinstein scandal was exposed, sparking the #MeToo uprising among women who demanded greater accountability.
Paramount has been looking to settle the shareholders’ lawsuits. In 2018, shareholders Gene Samit and John Lantz, among others, filed class-action lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A judge later consolidated the various lawsuits into one, with the lead plaintiff being the Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern California.
Investors alleged multiple federal securities law violations, including that executives made “materially false and misleading statements” and that the company failed to disclose key information to investors.
“With the exception of one statement made by Mr. Moonves at an industry event in November 2017, in which he allegedly was acting as the agent of CBS, all claims as to all other allegedly false and misleading statements were dismissed,” Paramount said in its filing.
The company eventually agreed to settle with the plaintiffs “for $14.75 million, which will be paid by the company’s insurers,” according to the filing. The settlement was approved by a judge May 13 and is pending final approval.
The attorney general’s office stepped in on behalf of New York shareholders.
