After six more women came forward to accuse Les Moonves of sexual assault, the CBS CEO and chairman officially resigned.
"Untrue allegations from decades ago are now being made against me that are not consistent with who I am. Effective immediately I will no longer be Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CBS," read his statement, via TMZ. "I am deeply saddened to be leaving the company. I wish nothing but the best for the organization, the newly comprised board of directors and all of its employees."
CBS will reportedly donate $20 million from Moonves' severance benefits to the #MeToo Movement on Moonves' and the network's behalf. He reportedly won't be receiving a severance package but that may change after CBS' internal investigation results are in. However, Moonves may receive an exit package. Previous reports claimed it would be around $100 million but the final figure has yet to be disclosed.
Moonves is the second high-profile person from CBS to face sexual misconduct allegations, following Charlie Rose, who is accused of sexual harassment by over 30 women. Because of that, CBS has an ongoing internal investigation happening to evaluate their workplace culture.
Ahead of Moonves' exit, Time's Up made a statement about the recent allegations. "Six more women have made bone-chilling allegations of abuse, harassment and retaliation against Les Moonves. We believe them," reads an e-mail statement sent to Complex. "These new allegations are in addition to the previous six women who have already bravely spoken out and detailed horrific behavior from Moonves."
The statement continues: "CBS, as you sit in a room debating next steps to rectify the damage done, remember that the world is watching. We will accept nothing less than full transparency of the investigation’s findings, a commitment to real change across all levels of CBS management and no reward for Les Moonves."
