September 10, 2018

"The departure of Mr. Moonves marks a stunning reversal for an executive who is credited with turning CBS into television’s most-watched network..."

"But he has been under intense pressure since July, when The New Yorker published an article by the investigative journalist Ronan Farrow in which six women accused Mr. Moonves of sexual harassment. On Sunday, the magazine published another article by Mr. Farrow in which six more women detailed claims against Mr. Moonves.... When the most recent television season ended in May, CBS was the nation’s most-watched network for the 10th consecutive year — an accomplishment that had made Mr. Moonves one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood... By the time Mr. Moonves left Warner Bros. to lead CBS Entertainment in 1995, he had a record-breaking 22 series on the air, including megahits like 'ER' and 'Friends.' At that time, CBS was last in the ratings and catered to an older audience that enjoyed series like 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman' and 'Touched by an Angel.' Mr. Moonves finally turned things around for good in 2000, when 'Survivor' and 'C.S.I.' debuted within a few months of each other.... Hit after hit started to appear on CBS, from 'NCIS' to 'The Big Bang Theory.'"

From "CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves Steps Down After Sexual Harassment Claims" (NYT). There have been 2 articles about him in The New Yorker, both by Ronan Farrow, one published just yesterday, the day his resignation was announced. There has been an investigation of him going on since the first article was published last March. Leading the investigation were Nancy Kestenbaum and Mary Jo White, both lawyers who are former federal prosecutors. White was head of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Obama administration.

Here's the new New Yorker article, which has an update stating the Moonves stepped down 3 hours after it was published. Excerpt:
One of the women with allegations against Moonves, a veteran television executive named Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb.... Moonves, she recalled, came into her office in the middle of a workday and suggested the two of them go out for lunch. Instead of taking her to a nearby restaurant, she said, Moonves drove her to a secluded area. When Golden-Gottlieb began to ask if he was having trouble finding a parking space, she said that Moonves “grabbed my head and he took it all the way down onto his penis, and pushed his penis into my mouth.” She said he held her head in place forcibly. “He came very quickly,” she recalled. “You sort of just go numb. You don’t know what to do.” Distraught, Golden-Gottlieb demanded that Moonves take her back to the office. When she got there, she said, she vomited. “It was just sick,” she told me. She didn’t report the incident at the time because she was a single mother supporting two children and feared for her career. “I realized he was the new golden boy,” she told me. “I just kept quiet.” But the incident, she said, “never left me.”

After she rebuffed Moonves, Golden-Gottlieb said that Moonves retaliated against her professionally, moving her into ever smaller offices. “Every two days, he’d find a darker space, or a place downstairs, or something,” she recalled. She told me that her career in the entertainment industry suffered, which she attributed to his influence at Lorimar and, later, CBS. “He absolutely ruined my career,” she said. “He was the head of CBS. No one was going to take me.”

76 comments:

David Begley said...

I want Ronan Farrow to investigate the Obama DOJ and FBI. He’s one of the few journalists left.

rhhardin said...

If Moonves ejaculated immediately she's in the wrong profession.

Humperdink said...

"Moonves and CBS will donate $20 million to the Me Too movement that will be deducted from any severance benefits Moonves may be owed, the company said."

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cbs-les-moonves-out_us_5b5b4455e4b0de86f496be08

No report as to whether Moonves will go after the NRA as fellow traveler Harvey Weinstein threatened.

Laslo Spatula said...

Amazing. CBS's "Sixty Minutes" had a huge story right under their very noses all these years and somehow they missed it.

I bet they're kicking themselves now, I tell you.

I am Laslo.

David Begley said...

Les has four children with Julia Chen. Still married. For now.

WK said...

Ha. “Right under their noses”.

Laslo Spatula said...

"After she rebuffed Moonves..."

Rebuffed?

So she buffed his cock a second time?

I am Laslo.

Bob Boyd said...

"If Moonves ejaculated immediately she's in the wrong profession."

The successful executive learns to prioritize time management.

rehajm said...

Less Moonves.

Narayanan said...

Amazing that Crichton movie Disclosure was able to set up narrative against women accusing for so long

Hagar said...

On one hand I do not want to read about such things; on the other, if this is how these people behave - men and women - it is high time it gets publicized, and there will be a house cleaning.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Shorter version: all those people who have been saying for years that Hollywood was a cesspool of depravity were 100% correct.

Bruce Hayden said...

For me, Ronan Farrow was more interesting. Brilliant, graduating from college at 15, and ultimately Yale law. Grew up show business royalty, at least on his mother's side. But then his (official) father married his adoptive sister. I said officially, because there are apparently persistent rumors that his biological father was Frank Sinatra, his mother's first husband. My bet is on Woody Allen though, given his brains. Gay, or something (Wikipedia just said he was a member of the LGBTxyz community, whatever that meant, and has been in a relationship with a "Jon" for some time). Interestingly, Crooked Hillary, who seemed close to Weinstein, put Farrow In some do gooder position when she was Sec of State (he seems to have inherited his mother's far left politics). The guy seems extremely talented, having accomplished more by his early 30s than most do in their entire lives, but he now has maybe the two biggest #MeToo scalps, which means that he is one of the very best investigatory journalist of his generation (only one I can think of of similar stature is James O'Keffe). No doubt he grew up with this sort of sexual exploitation in the background, with both of his parents working prominently in show business throughout his growing up - until his father married his adoptive sister, which he apparently thinks is still perverted. That may have ultimately set him on this road, and his family connections probably opened doors that others would have found more difficult. Nevertheless, an exceptional job.

One thing of interest to me though is that, as I noted above, he seemed to have inherited his mother's internationalist do gooder progressive politics. And, yet, he didn't let that stand in his way when exposing people like Weinstein, who had purchased indulgences over the years by giving generously to progressive causes and Dem politicians, most notably, Clinton, who had appointed Farrow to that position when he was in his earlier 20s. Maybe there really are people on the left with principles - Farrow seems to be one of them.

Rob said...

Moonves was doing research for his next big series, “Touched by a CEO.” Ms. Golden-Gottlieb’s account tastefully omitted the part where she sucked him off. After having chosen not to get out of the car while he was pulling out his penis. She did it for the kids, don’t ya know?

Birkel said...

There will be no improvement at these organizations. Replace elect with hire in the below quote.


“I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing, the right people will not do the right thing either, or it they try, they will shortly be out of office.”

― Milton Friedman

gilbar said...

as Laslo points out, "veteran television executive" Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb says she complied; down onto his penis, and mouthing him to completion (which, she claims to be SO GOOD at, that it happened: immediately), going back to work, not mentioning it, not reporting it. Yet she says she rebuffed him. I guess based on:

A) After finishing him off, she asked (demanded!) that they go back to work
B) She did not get the raises she assumed would be cumming, or the fancy offices

She never mentioned it to Anyone, until the target (Moonves) was cleared of flak and was now a milk run

Bob Boyd said...

I don't know what was going on in Golden-Gottlieb's head...wait, let me rephrase that.
Even if she wasn't physically forced, Moonves should not have been having sex with subordinates, women dependent on his good will for their career prospects. Apparently, he made a habit of it.

robother said...

Like Harvey Weinstein, Moonves was well aware of the long-established perks of power in the show business world he entered in the 70s. Sex was pleasant, but also important as part of the way you announced yourself as a Player. As for the Women's Rights thing, well look at all he's done for Julie Chen's career!

gilbar said...

Moonves was (is!) slime, no doubt about that!

Hagar said...

Hollywood? Is not CBS headquartered and broadcasting from New York City?

rhhardin said...

Amazing that Crichton movie Disclosure was able to set up narrative against women accusing for so long

The guy succumbed to temptation so that the plot has some reason for him to apologize to his wife. A virtuous man plot would have made a better movie but writers succumb to temtation faster than anybody.

rhhardin said...

It's not a cesspit of depravity. It's just a CEO getting some ass.

The depravity is the awful plots, which probably is the audience's fault.

The Crack Emcee said...

“Every two days, he’d find a darker space, or a place downstairs, or something”

No mention of a red Swingline stapler yet, but you know it's coming.

The Crack Emcee said...

gilbar said...

"Moonves was (is!) slime, no doubt about that!"

And Zappa was God - also unquestioned.

Robert Cook said...

I'm a Captain Beefheart guy. I don't like 95% of Zappa's show-offy, smarmy, unfunny "humor" and boring prog-rock and drab guitar noodling. The one whole album of his I like (actually, I think it's great) is WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH. I like parts of a few of his other early records with the original Mothers. Everything after 1969 or 70, when he dispensed with them, is unlistenable to me.

Otto said...

Sh*t on sh*t.

Drago said...

Cue the narrative: Did you know that Moonves was actually quite "conservative" in how he ran his network and his network more or less continued targeting Trump voters.

This ousting of Moonves will be added to the long list of things for which we must impeach DJT.

Drago said...

gilbar: "as Laslo points out, "veteran television executive" Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb says she complied; down onto his penis, and mouthing him to completion (which, she claims to be SO GOOD at, that it happened: immediately), going back to work, not mentioning it, not reporting it. Yet she says she rebuffed him. I guess based on:"

I'll bet good old phyllis was front and center in supporting Bill and Hillary and attacking DJT as well.

Sally said...

ABC' s Good Morning America covered this story very earnestly this morning. Stephanopoulos was extremely serious.

Shouting Thomas said...

Nobody listens to Zappa, but everybody professes his genius.

The proof of this is on Sirius Radio. I listen to a lot of channels, including the Classic Rock and Deep Tracks channels. The Deep Tracks channel is supposed to cover all that really groovy, intellectual stuff that kind of got lost in the shuffle in Classic Rock.

Zappa is never played on either station.

Fernandinande said...

“grabbed my head and he took it all the way down onto his penis, and pushed his penis into my mouth.”

It's pretty cool the way these fantasy porno stories are getting printed in what used to be newspapers.

Nobody listens to Zappa, but everybody professes his genius.

I knowatcha mean, but "Ruben and the Jets" is great, as are parts of, but not most of, "Uncle Meat".

rhhardin said...

HR question: does the modern penis into mouth consent form require both parties sign or only one. Penis into vagina probably takes only the woman's signature.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Somebody needs to fix these damn torpedoes!

Michael K said...

I'm also going to boycott CBS instead of merely ignoring it.

Michael said...

Amazing to me that these powerful men in entertainment had no patience for the charm offensive. It would seem to have been as easy as falling off a log to quietly woo strings of women particularly in the hothouse 80s. Weird.

Ray - SoCal said...

Golden-Gottlieb was a single Mother with 2 kids at the time.

Doing the math, this happened in 1986, she’s in her early 80’s now, so she was 48 or so. It sounded like she was pretty high up st the time, head of the cbs comedy devision.

Moonves also protected somebody high up in 60 minutes....

Darrell said...

If Moonves ejaculated immediately she's in the wrong profession.

Piece work pays by the job not the hour.

LYNNDH said...

CBS? What's that?

Etienne said...

Les Moonves, Hollywood Jew.

Need we say more?

buwaya said...

I suspect there is a more deliberate purpose to this than simply a metoo story.

Maneuvering vs a sale or split of Sumner Redstone's empire (Viacom and breakup of CBS corp.) Redstone seems to be suffering from incapacity in his old age and the whole structure may be picked apart. Redstone also has huge debts.

Or politics - Moonves had a critical position in message control over part of the MSM. Who or what side would benefit from eliminating Moonves I don't know.

buwaya said...

Follow the money, though it would take a lot of digging in this case I think.

There is purpose behind this, and much else in the Ronan Farrow story.
He is working for someone with an agenda.

I don't know whether these are good guys or bad guys.

narciso said...

that's probably true, for example who is black cube's competitor, is it blackwater or some unnamed party:

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/09/anatomy-of-a-fusion-smear-4.php

Sebastian said...

"You don’t know what to do.”

If it happened as reported, I understand. But afterward, a strong autonomous woman would report the assault to the police.

"She didn’t report the incident at the time because she was a single mother supporting two children and feared for her career. “I realized he was the new golden boy,” she told me. “I just kept quiet.”"

So she put "career" above justice? The only "career" she wanted involved Moonves? She willingly exposed other women to the risk of similar assaults?

William said...

I agree that the woman involved doesn't look praiseworthy but that's what gives her story credibility.....Who's more hypocritical: the Catholic prelates who condemn non-procreative sex or the various news people who have condemned Trump's sex life? I don't think either group realizes how badly their brand has been damaged.

narciso said...

well the lack of contemporarenous witnesses is a little concerning, but it apparently can be waived with circumstances,

Darrell said...

There is purpose behind this, and much else in the Ronan Farrow story.
He is working for someone with an agenda.


Nah. It was an untapped vein--a huge deposit for journalistic mining that everybody knew about, but no one touched. Farrow saw it and did his job. It helped that he has his own resources to go to island getaways on his own dime. And that partying with celebrities probably doesn't mean as much to him. He's done that all his life.

FIDO said...

Just out of curiosity:


A man sitting in a car with slacks and supposedly underwear on...call it 15 seconds to pull out his thingy which involves at least one hand and some gyrating hip contortions to get 'George the Anaconda' into position.


So what was she doing while all this was happening? Blithely looking out the window? Wondering if perhaps he had a mouse in his pocket which was glad to see her? Didn't she have a door she could have exited?

And, not to put too fine a point on it...but did she wear dentures? One would assume a woman planning on dining on something more substantial than a Vienna Sausage would bring her teeth with her. Some women actually have teeth in their mouths permanently.

What were THEY doing during all of this? I have a rather unsubtle suggestion for girls when this kind of thing happens.


I know we are supposed to believe all women. I can see her trying to suck it up for the sake of her children. But...hmm. She had time to react. She had time for 'no's. She had time for escape...but she feared the consequences and complied.

This feels a bit off.

chickelit said...

Phyllis Golden Gottlieb has a really, really bad hairstyle. She can fix that.

chickelit said...

Ronan Farrow will eventually need to fix the lie about his parentage. He cannot go through life unchallenged like that. What about the 4th Commandment?

narciso said...

it's instructive to consider, that lorimar, the company that gave us dallas, was in part a money laundering operation, well more deliberately than the paramount sindona partnership

Rigelsen said...

I want Ronan Farrow to investigate the Obama DOJ and FBI. He’s one of the few journalists left.

Has Ronan ever shown any aptitude for investigating anything that did not fit his desired narratives? Don’t want to discount the man, but besides his Hollywood sex exposĂ©s, he’s only been involved publicly with mother-affirming/father-demonizing and far-left proselytizing. His sex exposĂ©s go along with the father-demonizing, but if he were to investigate the Obmana DOJ/FBI, which way do you think his narrative interest would go? My guess is it would be a whitewash, and some more “Hillary was robbed!” storyline.

The fuller story with Asia Argento also demonstrates Ronan Farrow’s weakness. Because she was on the right side for his angle, he stopped with her story, and didn’t look behind the behind.

And as far as his mother-affirming/father-demonizing angle, I find his elder brother’s Moses’s tale to be far more credible. The high rate of deaths/suicides among Mia’s adoptees as well as the many formal investigations that corroborated Woody’s side of the story all back Moses up. Yes, Woody’s marriage to Soon-Yi is problematic, even if it doesn’t violate any temporal or formal moral law. (She was Mia and AndrĂ© Previn’s adoptee and never had a formal father-daughter relationship with Woody nor lived with him. She likely went to Woody to get away from Mia’s abuses. Even if she was already an adult, he should have still treated her as a child that needed protecting. But, their love does seem genuine, and he have been playing the dutiful husband and father role for the first time in his life. And hasn’t strayed since as far as any paparazzo has been able to relay.)

Anyway, Hollywood has always been a cesspit, and I’m glad Ronan is helping to bring sunlight to its dark corners. I’d just refrain from making him some heroic figure. He hasn’t yet shown that he can tell a story that doesn’t align with his prejudices, even when that story is just another side of the story he wants to tell. To be frank, he comes across more of as an Spanish-style inquisitor interested only in facts that align with his version of truth than a proper investigator interested in the actual truth the facts reveal.

heyboom said...

Interestingly, all of the local news stations were describing these assaults as incidents of "sexual harassment". Really?

Darrell said...

The fuller story with Asia Argento also demonstrates Ronan Farrow’s weakness. Because she was on the right side for his angle, he stopped with her story, and didn’t look behind the behind.

And what IS behind the story? She seems to have a paper trail of emails and texts from the then 17-year-old that prove that he was stalking her and pressuring her for sex. And he caught her off guard at a place she didn't expect him because he was monitoring her social media--and he raped her there, according to her account. She did pay him nearly $400k, however, and I can only chalk that up to poor legal advice. Regardless, that part of her life story has NOTHING to do with Weinstein's rape of her. Weinstein's ex-Mossad fixers are just throwing shit against the wall to divert your attention. And it apparently worked.

Skippy Tisdale said...

I do not find her forced oral sex story credible.

Rigelsen said...

Darrel, Harvey Weinstein is clearly at best a slime ball who has other accusers than Asia Argento who are more credible. Asia is simply not, as Ronan Farrow could have figured out if he hadn’t wanted to spike the ball. AFAICT, she had a continuing relationship with Weinstein after the event took place, and was apparently fine with it when it was getting her roles. I tend to not hold credible when people start telling stories only when it is convenient to do so and whose behavior belie those new stories before that. She comes across more like Mattress Girl Sulkowicz, who kept sending happy texts to and trying to get back together with her paramour, until she decided a year later that she hadn’t given consent.

Women are people, and they lie as much as people do, especially when convenience militates for it. Pretending otherwise is not productive to a healthy discourse or a healthy society.

Anyway, if it’s not clear, I support Ronan’s crusade to bring light to the cesspit that is Hollywood as well as routine sexual exploitation that takes place behind the scenes there. So far, however, Ronan has shown himself to be a one-trick pony, even if that trick is useful right now.

Howard said...

Ronan is way way fey to be Franks boy. Nancy "These Boots" has more testosterone.

Etienne said...

The bad thing about making sodomy legal, is it is only harassment now.

cubanbob said...

Etienne said...
Les Moonves, Hollywood Jew.

Need we say more?"

Do you wash your robes or send them out to the nearest Chinese laundry?
By the way, is being a Hollywood Jew an aggravating circumstance to an underlying crime or is it a crime in itself? If Moonves was a WASP or a RC would the underlying accusations be of less importance? Need we saymore?

Fernandinande said...

What about the 4th Commandment?

No problem - just get a warrant before kicking down doors.

I do not find her forced oral sex story credible.

#metoo

Fernandinande said...

So you think unreasonable searches and seizures are funny, Чикелит? I can't imagine what sort of mind thinks like that. Sad.

Ray - SoCal said...

A challenge of reporting a sexual assault, is it kills your career in Hollywood. So Ronan had to find people for his stories, that did not care about their career much. That had nothing to lose.

What I found truthful about Ronan's reporting on Moonves, is he found other people who had been told of the assaults at the time.

Earnest Prole said...

It's not a cesspit of depravity. It's just a CEO getting some ass.

This CEO getting some ass will result in tens of millions of dollars in losses to CBS shareholders, most of whom are ordinary people with retirement accounts. To them it's no different from theft.

Jim at said...

Mooves should've had his ass kicked to the curb - along with Dan Rather and Mary Mapes - back in September, 2004.

William said...

He was a more important figure in the entertainment industry than Weinstein, but Weinstein still remains the monster mogul. Weinstein used to molest A-level celebrities.......It is interesting to note that they were both into exhibitionism. This seems to be a common perversion of people in show business. I think it's much rarer in the general population.

Earnest Prole said...

Mooves should've had his ass kicked to the curb - along with Dan Rather and Mary Mapes - back in September, 2004.

Amen.

Darrell said...

It is interesting to note that they were both into exhibitionism. This seems to be a common perversion of people in show business

Nudity gives them plausible deniability. We all have the right to do as we please in our own space, right? And nudity then opens up the possibility of sexual things happening. One thing led to another. Plus they are all narcissistic assholes, so there is that, too.

Darrell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Darrell said...

There is a new French TV show, Nude (Nu), that is being broadcast in the UK with English subtitles. Its main premise is in the near future--six years--clothing has been banned under "transparency" laws for public safety. Liberty, fraternity, and nudity. Crime rates have plummeted. Of course they bring Global Warming into it as well.

Bay Area Guy said...

What kind of an Orwellian nightmare have we created in the work force where the boss man can't even get a quick Blow Job from a hot secretary?

(That was a joke)

Down with Moonves

bagoh20 said...

It used to be that men wanted to be rich and successful to get more sex. Now you have to choose your priority.

Etienne said...

"Purposely bringing oneself to erection" is grounds for Censure by the Jewish community. The same as being excommunicated by the Catholic Church.

If there is no censure, than the Jews in Hollywood approve of Moonves actions and lifestyle.

Trumpit said...

[Les Moonves, Hollywood Jew. Need we say more?]

No, with your anti-Semitic comment, you've said more than enough. Bernie Sanders in 2020. Actually, I think he is too old.

Etienne said...

Hollywood is bad - anti-Semitic comment.

Sure, OK, you win...

Unknown said...

Shouting Thomas: I still listen to Zappa- he did , as Robert Cook pointed out, have a tendency toward the juvenile- but there's a lot of good stuff after Weasels- heck, I even liked the Flo and Eddie stuff. Roxy and Elsewhere is a great record, and he could be fun live. I always though he needed someone sitting next to him to tell him "Frank, that's a good idea... Frank, that's not such a good idea..."

Kirk Parker said...

I always though he needed someone sitting next to him to tell him "Frank, that's a good idea... Frank, that's not such a good idea..."

He's far from the only one who needed that, and didn't have it. But the unanswerable question for all of them is: Would they have listened and heeded the advice?

Mike said...

So... NBC, CBS, Fox News, a large number of Hollywood films. Sports have their own obvious problems with CTEs and steroids. And this is only what we've heard about. You have to make compromises to watch anything.