CBS BIG’S REPRIEVE
He’ll ‘advise’ for a year, could net $120M
Les Moonves may have resigned as the CEO of CBS following more than a dozen allegations of sexual misconduct, but the former head honcho will still stick around – at least for the next year.
Moonves, 68, is set to stay on at the network as an adviser in order to ensure “a smooth transition of his duties.”
There's also still a chance the disgraced exec pockets a cool $120 million on his way out the door, as long as a probe determines he was not fired for cause, according to a Monday SEC filing.
The determination will be made within 30 days of the completed investigation, but no later than next Jan. 31.
The filing also states that he will be entitled to an office and security for up to two years.
Meanwhile, Moonves' wife, Julie Chen, who hosts “The Talk” and “Big Brother” on CBS, skipped the Season 9 premiere of her talk show Monday.
Chen said she was taking several days off from “The Talk” to spend time with her family, but would be back in front of the cameras Thursday to host “Big Brother.”
The star, who has been married to Moonves for 14 years, previously declared her intentions to stand by her husband after the initial allegations broke in July.
“Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader,” she said in a statement. “He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement.”
Ronan Farrow, who revealed the latest six allegations against the media exec in a New Yorker article published Sunday, said the ouster of such a figure has never happened before.
“It is the first example of a Fortune 500 CEO, of someone really thought to be immune to criticism because he is so indispensable to billions of dollars of transactions, has stepped down,” he told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday. “This is a first.”
Allegations against Moonves include forced oral sex and acts of intimidation. Veteran TV executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb told “GMA” on Monday that Moonves “picked me up and threw me against the wall.”
She had told Farrow Moonves once drove her to a secluded area and forced his penis into her mouth while both were working at Lorimar. “He took my whole career,” Golden-Gottlieb told ABC News.
Moonves said in a statement to The New Yorker that he “never used my position to hinder the advancement or careers of women.”