The resignation of Les Moonves, CBS’ chairman and chief executive, took many of us by surprise. In the weeks since sexual misconduct allegations against him first broke, we had begun to think Les Moonves wouldn’t go. And that—our pessimistic assumption that big men still get to do as they like—is worth interrogating. Why wouldn’t Moonves go? The accusations against him were credible and well-sourced. In reporting that Moonves allegedly assaulted actress Illeana Douglas, Ronan Farrow confirmed that she’d told others what had happened at the time. Somehow, this wasn’t enough. Neither were five other women who said Moonves harassed them when they were trying to do their jobs. Farrow spoke to 30 people who testified to a culture of permissiveness at CBS that started with Moonves and leached down to underlings like Jeff Fager, currently executive producer of 60 Minutes. (Six CBS employees have testified to Fager’s tendency to grope his subordinates when drunk.) That wasn’t enough. To those of us watching, it seemed that the organization simply didn’t want these things to matter. Moonves’ allies and dependents (there is likely overlap here) rallied: Sharon Osbourne—who co-hosts The Talk on Moonves’ network with Julie Chen, Moonves’ wife—put out a statement supporting him (she has deleted it). Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, defended him. So did CBS Sports publicist LeslieAnne Wade. The upshot? Fager kept his job. So, for a time, did Moonves. Rumors swirled of exit negotiations involving large settlements, but it would take another entire set of accusers with even more disturbing stories to finally get Moonves to leave.
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