Report: CBS Les Moonves found sexual assault victim to keep her quiet

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• A damning New York Times report says that Les Moonves
  tried to silence a woman who accused him of sexual assault with
  a TV role at a CBS show so she would keep quiet.
• Moonves, who was then working for Warner Bros.,
  allegedly forced Bobbie Phillips to perform oral sex on him in
  1995.
• Moonves acknowledged that encounter but told The Times
  and CBS investigators that the oral sex was
  consensual.
• After a reporter contacted Phillips’ agent, Marv Dauer,
  to discuss Moonves’ alleged sexual misconduct, Dauer tried
  contacting Moonves to secure roles for Phillips and his other
  clients, The Times said.
• This report could jeopardize a $120 million exit
  package that CBS is considering whether or not to pay
  Moonves.

Les Moonves tried to bribe an actress that he sexually assaulted
with TV roles so she would keep quiet,
a damning report in The New York Times said.

During a March 1995 meeting in Burbank, California, Moonves — the
president of Warner Bros. television at the time — exposed his
penis to actress Bobbie Phillips and tried to force her into
giving him oral sex, Phillips told The New York Times.

Moonves reportedly old Phillips: “Be my girlfriend and I’ll put
you on any show,” before allegedly grabbing her by the neck,
pushing her to her knees, and forcing his penis into her mouth.

Moonves acknowledged that encounter but told The Times that the
oral sex was consensual.

Moonves joined CBS later that year, ultimately becoming CEO and
chairman of CBS Corp. Phillips retired from acting in 2003.

But the 1995 encounter came to haunt her again last November —
around the rise of the #MeToo movement — after a reporter
contacted Marv Dauer, her agent, about allegations of sexual
misconduct by Moonves.

Bobbie
Phillips in an episode of “The X-Files” in
1996.
t76productions/YouTube

Dauer reportedly didn’t say anything at the time, but contacted
Moonves in December to talk about Phillips, during which they
agreed to get her an acting gig to keep her from speaking out,
The Times reported. Phillips had told Dauer around that time that
she wanted to get back into acting, The Times said.

At least 12 women have accused Moonves of sexual assault
since July. Some of them said they believed Moonves
jettisoned their careers after they rejected his advances.
Moonves left CBS in September.

Business Insider has contacted Warner Bros. and CBS Corp. for
comment on his alleged sexual assault against Phillips.

CBS has launched an internal investigation into Moonves’
behavior, and are figuring out whether to pay him a $120 million
severance payment.

The exit package hinges on whether Moonves was honest with the
corporations’ investigators, and this report could threaten that.
Business Insider has contacted CBS for comment on the status of
Moonves’ exit package.

Read more:

Stephen Colbert discusses the resignation of his former boss, Les
Moonves, after sexual misconduct allegations from a dozen
women

LA
County prosecutors have declined to press charges against CBS CEO
Les Moonves (pictured in September), stemming from an allegation
that he sexually assaulted a woman he worked with in the late
1980s.
Chris Pizzello/Associated
Press

How Moonves reportedly tried to get his accuser a job

Moonves said Dauer pressured him to get jobs for his clients,
including Phillips, while Dauer said he was just trying to warn
Moonves about the reporter’s call.

Though the two men’s accounts of that conversation differed, it
started a chain of texts and phonecalls that showed the extent to
which Moonves wanted to keep his accuser quiet.

In January, Dauer reportedly texted Moonves: “My hope is when she
[Phillips] is working all this will go far far away.” He
reportedly added: “I certainly believe I can put this to bed.”

In July, The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow contacted Moonves for
comment on allegations of sexual assault. Moonves called Dauer,
according to The Times, and said: “They’re coming out with an
article in The New Yorker,” adding that Phillips “has got to
take this job or I’m done.”

One month later, Moonves told Dauer: “If Bobbie talks, I’m
finished.”

CBS investigators have since found that Moonves deleted many text
messages with Dauer from his iPad, The Times reported.