CBS: Now With Less Les
• CBS made it official on Sunday: Leslie Moonves is stepping down as Chairman & CEO amid a growing list of sexual assault allegations. According to the Washington Post, Moonves has apologized for making any women feel uncomfortable but denied he used his position to harm people’s careers. Journalist Ronan Farrow described decades of Moonves’s alleged sexual harassment and assault of six women in a story published by the New Yorker on Sunday, doubling the number of accusers who have come forward to Farrow.
Longtime CBS COO Joe Ianniello has been named interim CEO of the company. The shakeup at the top includes the addition of six new members to the 14-member CBS board — please welcome Candace Beinecke, Barbara Byrne, Brian Goldner, Richard D. Parsons, Susan Schuman and former BMG Entertainment Pres./CEO Strauss Zelnick. Your departing board members are: Arnold Kopelson, Leonard Goldberg, Charles Gifford, David Andelman and Doug Morris.
“CBS is an organization of talented and dedicated people who have created one of the most successful media companies in the world,” said Shari Redstone, CBS Vice Chair and President of controlling shareholder, National Amusements, Inc. (NAI). “Today’s resolution will benefit all shareholders, allowing us to focus on the business of running CBS — and transforming it for the future. We are confident in Joe’s ability to serve as acting CEO and delighted to welcome our new directors, who bring valuable and diverse expertise and a strong commitment to corporate governance.”
The settlement agreement calls for CBS and Moonves to donate $20 million to organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for workplace in the women — recognition of the disturbing allegations leveled against Moonves by a dozen women, as reported in exposes by Farrow for the New Yorker. According to the Post, The amount of Moonves’s settlement was not disclosed, although some reports speculated it could be as much as $100 million. Moonves one of the best-compensated execs in media, making $69 million last year, according to regulatory filings. As part of the agreement, CBS and National Amusements are also expected to end their lawsuit as Ms. Redstone agrees not to merge CBS with Viacom.
