Star says series cancelled when advances rejected

Actress recalls how she turned down CBS executive’s unwanted advances

Cybill Shepherd said in a radio interview Thursday that she believes her eponymous 1990s sitcom “would have run another five years” — if she hadn’t declined an unwanted advance from Les Moonves, the disgraced former chairman and chief executive of CBS.

The veteran actress told Sirius XM radio host Michelle Collins that Moonves asked to take her home after a dinner date set up by their assistants. Shepherd said she turned him down and, “quite shortly after,” began encountering regular pushback on Cybill, which aired on CBS from 1995 to 1998.

The final episode of the show, which starred Shepherd as a struggling, aging actress, ended on a “to be continued” cliffhanger that never found resolution. In September, Moonves resigned from his longtime leadership position at CBS amid sexual misconduct allegations from a dozen women. Six women came forward with allegations against Moonves in a July article by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker.

An additional six women alleged instances of harassment, retaliation, forced oral sex and intimidation in a followup article, published in September.

The next day, CBS announced Moonves would step down. Moonves has denied allegations of wrongdoing.

He had told The New Yorker in a statement that he “had consensual relationships” with three of the six women from the September article, and that he had “never used my position to hinder the advancement or careers of women.

“Untrue allegations from decades ago are now being made against me that are not consistent with who I am,” Moonves said in a statement following his resignation.

“I am deeply saddened to be leaving the company.”