CBS CEO Les Moonves is reportedly resigning from his position just hours after additional women accused him of sexual misconduct in The New Yorker.
The embattled executive was first accused of sexual harassment by a half dozen women in August in an explosive report by journalist Ronan Farrow. (RELATED: Insiders React To Allegations Against CBS CEO Les Moonves)
While the CBS board was reportedly negotiating a $100 million settlement offer for Moonves to leave the company, six additional women told Farrow that Moonves had sexually harassed or assaulted them. The new allegations were published in The New Yorker on Sunday morning.
According to an update at the top of the piece, Moonves resigned from CEO just three hours after the story was published.
The women claim, among other things, that Moonves forced women to perform oral sex on him, that he exposed himself to them, and that he used physical violence and intimidation against them.
A television executive named Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb said she filed a criminal complaint against Moonves in 2017, alleging that he restrained her and forced her to perform oral sex on him in the 1980s. Prosecutors declined to press charges because the statute of limitations had expired.
Writer Jessica Pallingston similarly claimed that Moonves coerced her into performing oral sex on him in the 1990s and became hostile when she declined other advances.
Moonves released a statement to Farrow claiming that he did have sexual encounters with some of the women but that they were entirely consensual.
The appalling accusations in this article are untrue. What is true is that I had consensual relations with three of the women some 25 years ago before I came to CBS. And I have never used my position to hinder the advancement or careers of women. In my 40 years of work, I have never before heard of such disturbing accusations. I can only surmise they are surfacing now for the first time, decades later, as part of a concerted effort by others to destroy my name, my reputation, and my career. Anyone who knows me knows that the person described in this article is not me.
CBS’ board of directors is still investigating the allegations.