Les Moonves and CBS next on the metoo chopping block

[woolfe9998]

New article in the New Yorker details numerous allegations of sexual misconduct by CBS CEO Les Moonves, and at CBS in general with other male executives.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/...and-cbs-face-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct

In a nutshell, several named women, including actress Illeana Douglas, writer Janet Jones, and producer Christine Peters detail accusations against Moonves personally. All cases involve the exact same pattern. The woman is closing a deal with CBS for some work, Moonves inexplicably schedules a private meeting with the woman, then proceeds to physically force himself on her. After they decline his advance, he backs off. But then the deal doesn't go through. In Douglas' case, the deal had already gone through, but she then was fired. All these women told other people about it at the time, and these people have backed them up.

Moonves barely denies any of it. He admits in a general way that he has in the past made unwanted sexual advances toward women. He admits he tried to kiss Douglas. He claims he "doesn't remember" some of the others. He really only denies the retaliation part, giving different "legitimate" reasons why each deal didn't go through. Moonves is a prominent supporter of "metoo."

I find the allegations against Moonves personally to he highly credible. Like near 100% probability. Both the harassment part and the retaliation part.

OTOH, the allegations against CBS as having a culture of harassment coming from the top down I'm not sure are adequately proven here. They are insufficiently numerous to support that claim, given the size of CBS and the long time frame over which the allegations relate. As for the claims which are described in the article, there is insufficient detail to determine their credibility. CBS vigorously denies these other allegations.

 

[Commodus]

I agree there should be a deeper investigation into CBS' overall culture, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more widespread. Some men wonder why women are so adamant about #MeToo and otherwise acknowledging a pervasive culture of sexual assault and harassment... this is why. You see so many guys who get even a smidgen of power and then think that they're entitled to any woman that roams within view.

 

[Greenman]

I agree there should be a deeper investigation into CBS' overall culture, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more widespread. Some men wonder why women are so adamant about #MeToo and otherwise acknowledging a pervasive culture of sexual assault and harassment... this is why. You see so many guys who get even a smidgen of power and then think that they're entitled to any woman that roams within view.

I guess that happens, but it's so far removed from my world it's hard to believe. I simply don't know anyone that doesn't treat women with respect, and understands what no means.

 

[Commodus]

I guess that happens, but it's so far removed from my world it's hard to believe. I simply don't know anyone that doesn't treat women with respect, and understands what no means.

The tricky part is that it tends to be guys in power (even if it's only a moderate amount of power), and even then you may only see the squeaky clean public side of these guys. As an example of the problem: a recent survey of women in tech companies showed that a large number of them faced retaliation when they complained about sexual harassment at work (and that, by extension, indicates a significant amount of harassment).

Many if not most guys are respectful, to be clear -- it's just that the dirtbags tend to either keep it out of sight or have the benefit of a company protecting them against repercussions (whether due to their influence inside the company or a culture that condones their behavior).