Les Moonves and Paramount to Pay $9.75 Million in State Case Tied to Sexual Misconduct

In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department said it had recently learned of the captain’s actions from the New York attorney general, adding that it had begun its own investigation into the retired officer’s conduct.

“What is most appalling is the alleged breach of trust of a victim of sexual assault, who is among the most vulnerable, by a member of the L.A.P.D.,” the department’s chief, Michel Moore, said in a statement. “This erodes the public trust and is not reflective of our values as an organization.”

In June 2018, CBS authorized Gil Schwartz, then CBS’s chief communications officer, to sell millions of dollars’ worth of the company’s stock, according to the attorney general’s investigation. Ms. James said the action constituted insider trading because Mr. Schwartz had known about the accusations against Mr. Moonves, which could potentially sink the company’s stock price. Mr. Schwartz died in 2020.

Mr. Moonves’s departure marked a stunning reversal for an executive who was credited with turning CBS into television’s most-watched network. But he had been under intense pressure since July 2018, when The New Yorker published an article by the investigative journalist Ronan Farrow in which six women accused Mr. Moonves of sexual harassment. The magazine soon published another article by Mr. Farrow in which six more women detailed claims against Mr. Moonves.

In December 2018, the company officially said Mr. Moonves was fired, citing “willful and material misfeasance, violation of company policies and breach of his employment contract.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/business/cbs-les-moonves-sexual-misconduct-paramount.html