This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

CBS, the US television and media giant, could end up paying its former chief executive Les Moonves $120m if an internal investigation fails to prove allegations of sexual harassment.

Les Moonves resigns from CBS after six more women accuse him of sexual harassment Read more

On Sunday Moonves stepped down from the company he has led for 15 years, after the New Yorker published an article detailing new sexual harassment allegations against him.

In a regulatory filing published on Monday, the company said that in the next 30 days it will set aside $120m to pay off Moonves, unless “the board determines that the company is entitled to terminate Mr Moonves’s employment for cause under his employment agreement”.

The filing also says $20m will go to “charitable organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace”. The organizations have been “designated by Mr Moonves in consultation with the company”.

The possible payout has triggered angry responses. On Twitter, the director Judd Apatow said Moonves should be behind bars.

Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) Les Moonves should be in prison. https://t.co/QyfaqiRBmw

Rachel Bloom, actor and star of the comedy-drama series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, wrote: “As an employee of CBS, I would just like to say that Les Moonves should be fired without getting a fucking dollar. The actions described in this article are those of sexual assault and shame on anyone else in the corporation who knew about his crimes.”

Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) As an employee of CBS, I would just like to say that Les Moonves should be fired without getting a fucking dollar. The actions described in this article are those of sexual assault and shame on anyone else in the corporation who knew about his crimes. https://t.co/1ItYyeLGmH

The New Yorker article is the second the magazine has published alleging sexual harassment by Moonves, long one of the most powerful men in Hollywood and the highest-profile executive to lose his job over allegations of sexual harassment since the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

In the latest article, six women accuse Moonves of harassment or assault in incidents that include claims that Moonves forced them to perform oral sex on him, “violently” threw a woman against a wall, exposed himself and used physical violence and intimidation against them.

Moonves denies the charges. He told the New Yorker: “The appalling accusations in this article are untrue.” He admitted to “consensual relations” with three of the women.

CBS has been hit with a shareholder lawsuit in the wake of the scandal. The company’s shares dropped 6% on the day the New Yorker published its first article detailing accusations from six women.

The company has hired outside lawyers to investigate the claims. There is no guarantee that their findings will be made public.

Moonves’s contract contains a confidentiality clause in which the company pledges to “seek to preserve the confidentiality of all written and oral reports by the investigators in the internal investigation … and not to make public such Investigator Information to the maximum extent possible consistent with fiduciary duties of directors and all applicable law”.

The news comes as Moonves has been fighting off an attempt by Shari Redstone, the president of National Amusements, which holds controlling shares in both CBS and Viacom, to recombine the two media companies.

National Amusements has now agreed not to propose a merger of the two companies for two years.















