‘It was revolting’
Moonves forced self on me, actress says
Les Moonves was hit with another sexual assault accusation Wednesday by a former actress who says the ex-CBS head honcho terminated their working relationship abruptly after she rejected his sexual advances.
June Seley Kimmel told The Hollywood Reporter that Moonves, now 69, was the head of development at 20th Century Fox in 1985 when she went in to meet with him for a pitch meeting.
“I did my pitch and it was really the best I have ever done. Just fantastic on steroids — completely on it,” she told the outlet. “He said, ‘We are going to make this movie.'”
But after the praise, Moonves wrapped her in a hug and allegedly made a move.
“He held me super close and proceeded to stick his tongue down my throat. It was revolting,” she said. “He didn't even kiss me! Just the tongue down the throat.”
Kimmel, who said she was 34 at the time of the incident, said she quickly pulled away and questioned his actions, which he dismissed as having gotten “carried away.”
After reassuring her that her film would be made, Kimmel says Moonves called several days later and asked to see her again.
Kimmel says that while she was attracted to Moonves, she was put off by the fact that he was married, and told him so.
“I said, ‘If there weren't pictures of your beautiful wife all over your office . . . and I'm very vulnerable . . . and I can't. I hope you're still going to do the movie,' ” she recalled. “He kept me on the phone a little longer and then he said, ‘Oh, someone's here.' And I never heard from him again.”
Kimmel said the sudden rejection made her feel like “part of a pathetic little club,” but she eventually moved past it — until she received a frustrating phone call from CBS.
“There were two women on the line. I told them the story and it got strange when they were asking for all this verification,” she said. “My sister wasn't good enough for them. I asked a friend and she said, ‘I remember every detail,' but that wasn't good enough either.”
Kimmel first spoke of the incident in December 2017 with little detail.
Her encounter with CBS comes on the heels of a report by The New York Times on Tuesday that claimed Moonves destroyed evidence of his alleged misconduct to throw off the network's investigators.
The former CEO of CBS, who stepped down in September, is facing more than a dozen accusations of sexual misconduct, ranging from sexual harassment and assault to forced oral sex.
He has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.