As Les Moonves is in talks to exit CBS, six more women have accused him of sexual misconduct, The New Yorker reported Sunday.
The magazine, which first reported on accusations of misconduct against the CBS CEO, said that six additional women are now accusing him “of sexual harassment or assault in incidents that took place between the nineteen-eighties and the early aughts.” Moonves denied any such conduct.
The accusations range from forced oral sex to threats of physical violence if they refused him.
Several of the women who spoke to writer Ronan Farrow for the New Yorker piece also voiced their frustration at news reports that Moonves might receive an exit package of $100 million upon his departure from CBS. Writer Jessica Pallington, who said Moonves coerced her into performing oral sex on him while working as his assistant two decades ago, said such an exit package would be “completely disgusting.”
“He should take all that money and give it to an organization that helps survivors of sexual abuse,” she said.
Another accuser, veteran TV executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, said she filed a report with the LAPD in the 1980s that Moonves forced her to perform oral sex and later threw her against a wall. While police found her to be credible, they could not move forward on charges because the statute of limitations expired, the New Yorker said.
In a statement, Moonves acknowledged consensual relationships decades ago but denied wrongdoing.
“The appalling accusations in this article are untrue. What is true is that I had consensual relations with three of the women some 25 years ago before I came to CBS. And I have never used my position to hinder the advancement or careers of women,” Moonves said.
“In my 40 years of work, I have never before heard of such disturbing accusations. I can only surmise they are surfacing now for the first time, decades later, as part of a concerted effort by others to destroy my name, my reputation, and my career. Anyone who knows me knows that the person described in this article is not me.”
CBS and Moonves did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for further comment.