TURNING UP HEAT
Dan Taylor exits CBS Radio as AG probe widens
Dan Taylor, a longtime host at CBS Radio, has abruptly left the company amid a broadening investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James into the legacy brands of the CBS media empire, The Post has learned.
The New York AG’s office has been investigating CBS Radio for workplace misconduct for at least six months, including explosive harassment allegations against Taylor and other hosts that were documented by The Post last year, according to a person close to the investigation.
Those included accusations that Taylor, a 40-year veteran who read the news and spun oldies during weekday afternoons at CBS Radio, referred to another radio host as a “f–king Jew bastard,” called a marketing manager a “dyke” and insisted on using the word “faggy” in a conversation with a co-worker despite being told to stop, according to an HR complaint to CBS Radio that The Post obtained.
Taylor also allegedly invited a 23-year-old subordinate to his hotel room and bought her a massage during an employee vacation, The Post reported earlier.
The CBS Radio probe appears to be an outgrowth of the sexual misconduct investigation into former CBS head Les Moonves, who was ousted last year amid accusations he sexually harassed female employees, sources said. Moonves has denied the allegations.
Investigators, who have interviewed multiple former employees, are looking into CBS Radio’s policies for reporting misconduct, and what resources were available when any misconduct did occur, according to two sources.
The New York AG’s investigation appears to be looking into problems not only at CBS Corp. itself, but also at brands it owned, including CBS Radio, which it spun off two years ago, according to a source close to the situation.
The New York AG’s CBS investigation is “not just TV,” according to the source.
CBS Radio, which started in 1926, was under the CBS Corp. umbrella until 2017, when radio giant Entercom finalized its acquisition of the operation, making it the second-largest radio company in the US.
Taylor isn’t the only problem facing the legacy radio company.
Last year, former ad exec Lauren Lockwood filed a civil suit claiming that WFAN — the sports radio arm of CBS Radio — fired her after she complained that personality Joe Benigno tried to pressure her into group sex with his wife.
Benigno “whispered in [Lockwood’s] ear about having ‘threesomes’ with him and his wife and prostitutes,” the suit claims.
“Benigno showed [Lockwood] a nude photo of his wife with a prostitute and propositioned [Lockwood] to join him, his wife and a prostitute in sexual intercourse,” according to the complaint.
A lawyer for Benigno has denied the allegations.
Spokespeople for the AG’s office and Entercom didn’t return requests for comment. Taylor didn’t respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
In September, CBS Corp. revealed in securities filings that the New York AG and the New York City Commission on Human Rights had subpoenaed the media giant about “cultural issues” at “all levels of CBS.” Entercom hasn’t disclosed any regulatory probes related to workplace issues.
However, last year, Entercom said it would fight the Lockwood suit, and it dismissed any complaints about its company culture.
“We are deeply offended by this mischaracterization of our culture and work environment. This handful of allegations from former employees of CBS Radio does not reflect Entercom’s culture or work environment,” Liz Zale, an outside spokeswoman at Sard Verbinnen, told The Post at the time.