CBS, LAPD captain led cover-up of sexual assault report against Moonves, AG says
As is so often the case with the powerful and the wealthy, Moonves is far removed from the realities of the working world, where the allegations of sexual harassment and assault must be dealt with.
Instead, he is, in every sense, a member of the American elite, making his fortune as the CEO of CBS, a company worth billions. He is married and has been married for over 50 years to actress and philanthropist Sharon Van Etten, the mother of his four children, and he has a daughter with his wife. Moonves has two other children from his previous marriage to actress Elizabeth Taylor.
Yet Moonves went to considerable lengths last October to avoid confronting what he knew to be the truth about the sexual harassment allegations against him.
CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reported on Feb. 8 that Moonves had taken several steps to protect himself in a sexual harassment case against him and his business partner, David E. Kelley. Moonves had made a false statement that the case had been settled and he had been granted a “limited privilege” for the “first six months of the next fiscal year” at CBS, which would lift any confidentiality restrictions. Moonves also did not want to discuss the allegations publicly, so he hired a third-party lawyer to handle the case.
What Moonves did not do was contact the Los Angeles Police Department to report that he had been sexually assaulted by a former associate, former executive producer of the CBS show “60 Minutes,” Charlie Rose. Or that the LAPD was investigating the allegation.
Instead, he chose to rely on CBS counsel, which chose to stay quiet.
Instead, CBS News did not name Moonves in a story about the allegations until the police investigation into a second accuser had begun, and the story was broadcast.
CBS decided not to name an accused accused in another sex abuse case against Moonves, in which a former assistant director of media relations in the LAPD, Joseph Yanny, was being investigated for alleged extortion of a woman with whom he had once been romantically involved.
CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson and CBS reporter David Begnaud were to blame for the cover-up, it emerged last month.
CBS News made a conscious decision not to tell the public, according to Los Angeles Police Lt. Mark Stickel in his testimony yesterday