Uh-oh. More #MeToo.
This time, the batter(er) up is Les Moonves, CEO of CBS.
Six women are accusing the big wig of sexual misconduct. Those lovely ladies call him out in Friday’s edition of The New Yorker.
Can I just say — I’ve found myself standing beside Moonves’s car many times, and it’s verrry nice.
But you can’t judge a man by the car he drives — not according to Emmy-nominated writer and actress Illeana Douglas:
“What happened to me was a sexual assault, and then I was fired for not participating.”
Douglas says — long ago — Les tried to talk her into some squishin’ around with the lure of the good life:
“There was the big sell — he was telling me, ‘You’re gonna get a house with a pool, you’re gonna love it, it’s a great life.'”
Moonves is a smooth operator:
“In a millisecond, he’s got one arm over me, pinning me…violently kissing [me].”
The experience was traumatizing:
“You sort of black out. You think, ‘How long is this going to go on?’ I was just looking at this nice picture of his family and his kids. I couldn’t get him off me.”
He held her arms above her head, on the couch:
“What it feels like to have someone hold you down — you can’t breathe, you can’t move. … The physicality of it was horrendous.”
Illeana claims she was fired from the show Queens over another incident later at a rehearsal. Les showed up and verbally tore into her.
All of this, of course, is alleged. But Douglas ain’t the only one alleging.
Take writer Janet Jones, for example:
“He has gotten away with it for decades. … And it’s just not okay.”
Jones insists Moonves attempted a liplock at a meeting. She had to push him the heck off.
“He came around the corner of the table and threw himself on top of me. It was very fast.”
Moonves says she’s full of it. And CBS is backing him up, in a statement to The New Yorker:
“[Les] denies any characterization of ‘sexual assault,’ intimidation, or retaliatory action.”
Les did, however, admit making a go at Douglas’s smoocher.
That’s a scandalous way to run a company.
Thirty current and former employees of CBS were interviewed by The New Yorker, and they confirmed a workplace environment rife with sex discrimination.
CBS ain’t buying it. In fact, the network, according to the network, is a virtual paragon of virtue::
“CBS is very mindful of all workplace issues and takes each report of misconduct very seriously. We do not believe, however, that the picture of our company created in The New Yorker represents a larger organization that does its best to treat its tens of thousands of employees with dignity and respect.”
The powerful don’t fall so easily–
But they do indeed fall. One question I have is, is this already a dead genre? Will this story have legs, or is the media done with the subject?
After all, we’re dealing with a 17-minute news cycle. And sexual harassment is so 18 minutes ago.
Furthermore, Moonves is a known Democratic donor. You do the math. I doubt they want another Weinstein-level blight.
Are you betting the press lays lower with this one than those exposed months ago? If so, MeToo.
Time warp — a revisiting of Harvey Weinstein:
‘Manster’ Harvey Weinstein is Arrested, Here’s How Social Media and #MeToo Respond
What do you expect to see with this story? Has the topic outstayed its welcome? Please let us all know in the Comments section below.
For something totally different, please see my articles on CNN’s castigation of pompous Trump and stupid Republicans, the building of the U.S. Embassy in Israel, and fish jumping into Donald Trump’s boat.
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