What these directors didn’t learn until nearly two weeks later, according to a CBS director and people close to the board, is that one of Mr. Moonves’s accusers was threatening to go public with her claims. Instead of reporting the situation, Mr. Moonves was in the process of trying to find the woman a job at CBS in order to gain her continued silence.

When the board learned about this, even Mr. Moonves’s staunchest backers were stunned. Their belief in his credibility was shattered given his previous denials of anything untoward, these people said.

In the end, it was the evidence that Mr. Moonves had misled his board — even more than the allegations of abuse from multiple women — that doomed him. On Sunday, the CBS board announced his departure, not even paying lip service to his long career. And on Wednesday, CBS ousted Jeff Fager, the longtime head of “60 Minutes,” for sending a threatening text message to a CBS News reporter who was looking into allegations that Mr. Fager had fostered a culture of harassment at “60 Minutes.”

This account of the CBS board’s six-week about-face — from vigorous support to unanimous, if belated, outrage — is based on interviews with directors and other people familiar with the board’s deliberations. They declined to be named because of confidentiality agreements, the possibility of litigation and an ongoing internal investigation.

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Mr. Moonves has continued to assert his innocence, though he acknowledged having had “consensual relationships” with three women who accused him of misconduct in an article published by The New Yorker on Sunday. It was the second article in three months from the magazine to allege a pattern of sexual harassment and assault by Mr. Moonves. “Untrue allegations from decades ago are now being made against me that are not consistent with who I am,” he said. Through a spokesman, Mr. Moonves declined further comment, including on whether he sought to find a job for one of his accusers.