The Atlantic

Why the Les Moonves Departure Is Not Enough

The powerful CBS chief is exiting the company after a new round of sexual-misconduct allegations. It’s a big deal—but it’s not the full deal.
Source: Brendan McDermid / Reuters

“CBS takes these allegations very seriously. Our Board of Directors is conducting a thorough investigation of these matters, which is ongoing.”

That was one of the several statements CBS, in response to : Ronan Farrow’s follow-up to , a story detailing allegations from six different women about sexual and professional misconduct on the part of the network’s chairman, Les Moonves. Farrow’s new report, based largely on events that occurred in the 1980s and ’90s, before Moonves joined CBS, contains allegations from six more women, and its stories of abuse are even more extreme than the earlier ones: There are allegations of oral sex both coerced and forced, including one case that resulted in a criminal investigation last year; allegations of forced touching; allegations of physical violence, including one executive who said Moonves, in a fit of rage, threw her against a wall; and allegations of retaliation against several of the women for rejecting his advances.

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