Media

Moonves to remain as unpaid adviser at CBS: report

by Joe Concha - 09/10/18 4:02 PM ET

CBS chief Les Moonves will remain on at the network as an unpaid advisor after his resignation as CEO and chairman under a storm of sexual assault and harassment allegations, according to a report by NBC News.

NBC reported that his work as an unpaid adviser would take place separately from a $120 million payout that Moonves is set to receive as an investigation of he allegations agains him continues.

A confidentiality clause, however, may prevent the findings of the investigation from ever being revealed.

{mosads}The network has agreed to “seek to preserve the confidentiality of all written and oral reports by the investigators in the Internal Investigation, and all information and findings developed by the investigators or included in such written or oral reports in relation to Executive,” according to the separation agreement filed on Monday.

Moonves stepped down on Sunday after the latest story about him was published by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker.

The Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter detailed allegations, including sexual assault, from six additional women against the 68-year-old Moonves, who had already been accused of sexual harassment by former CBS staffers last month. One woman also stated she was coerced into performing oral sex.

According to a corporate filing made public Monday, Moonves’s prospective payout of $120 million will be placed in a holdover trust during an investigation into the claims.

CBS, a publicly-traded company, will be required under disclosure rules to share any payouts made to Moonves to investors.

In a Sunday statement, Moonves said on Sunday that the claims against him are “untrue allegations from decades ago,” and are “not consistent with who I am.”

Chief Operating Officer Joseph Ianniello will serve as the company’s interim CEO as the network’s board of directors works on choosing a permanent successor.

CBS said on Sunday that it will donate $20 million of Moonves’s potential severance pay to one or more organizations that support the #MeToo movement.

Tags CBS Sexual harassment