Tuesday, June 24, 2025

CBS Gets a Black Eye from the New Yorker as Les Moonves is Accused of Sexual Misconduct, CBS News Described as Hotbed of Harassment, “60 Minutes” Chief Cited

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Les Moonves may be finished at CBS. Ronan Farrow’s piece in “The New Yorker” is a devastating portrait of sexual misconduct over many decades. Farrow has gotten a very good and smart actress, Illeana Douglass, to describe a long incident in which Moonves made sexual advances on her, then attempted to ruin her career.

Douglas, by the way. is like Hollywood royalty. Her grandfather was legendary actor Melvyn Douglas, her grandmother was Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas. Illeana dated Martin Scorsese for a decade and appeared in many of his films. She’s not making it up.

Farrow’s piece details Moonves’s alleged misbehavior, and it also details hidden stories at “60 Minutes.” This is so crazy– “60 Minutes” is considered the crown jewel of everything in news. Vicki Gordon is someone I’ve known for decades. She is an impeccable person, full of integrity, and a great producer. That she endured a fellow producer throwing furniture at her and mistreating her is pretty awful. I know she’s telling the truth.

Well, it’s another group of people flushed down the toilet. Moonves and Fager will have a lot of trouble hanging on once this is absorbed. Anyway, it’s time for a female exec producer at “60 Minutes.” For years when Don Hewitt was there (who I liked a lot) the real power was a terrific woman named Esther Kartiganer. She got credit for nothing.

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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