How Moonves tried to silence accuser

April 28 was Marv Dauer’s 75th birthday. It was also going to be his comeback.

After more than three decades as a Hollywood talent manager, Dauer, tanned and silver-haired, had the aura of success, but his client list had dwindled to a few B-list actors. Casting directors ignored his emails. His finances were precarious. He had nearly lost his home to foreclosure.

More than 100 friends, sports figures, casting directors, actors and golf and bridge partners had gathered to celebrate at a friend’s Los Angeles home.

Then, at about 8 p.m., a star arrived: Leslie Moonves, the CEO of CBS and one of Hollywood’s most powerful people.

Moonves’ presence sent a powerful message: Marv Dauer was back. Moonves had never attended Dauer’s previous parties. So what was he doing there?

Four months later, Moonves was pushed out by CBS’ board after 12 women told the New Yorker that he had sexually harassed or assaulted them. But those accusations didn’t directly cause Moonves’ fall. As Dauer says the mogul told him before and after the birthday party, only one woman could bring him down: “If Bobbie talks, I’m finished.”

Despite occasional success as a talent manager, Dauer struggled to escape daytime television. In 1993, a casting director introduced him to an actress who looked like his ticket out: Bobbie Phillips.

Phillips was 25 and had done some modeling, posed for the cover of fitness magazines and made a couple of appearances on “Married With Children.”

Dauer signed Phillips after one meeting. She landed a small role in the 1995 film “Showgirls” and starred on the short-lived UPN drama “The Watcher.”

Moonves, the president of Warner Bros. Television at the time, had crossed paths with Dauer on golf courses and tennis courts. After a mutual friend introduced them, they had lunch, and Dauer arranged for Phillips to meet Moonves.

On the afternoon of March 7, 1995, Phillips arrived at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank. Moonves gestured for her to sit. “I’m going to set you up with John Levey,” he told her, referring to the casting director for “E.R.” As Moonves called Levey and left a message, Phillips noticed a baseball bat leaning against his desk.

In a recent interview, Phillips described what happened