Les Moonves, CBS CEO, faces sexual misconduct allegations from 6 women

The New Yorker is reporting that six women who had professional dealings with the CEO of CBS, Les Moonves, say he sexually harassed them between the 1980s and late 2000s.

The article says that four of the women described forcible touching or kissing during business meetings. It says two said that Moonves physically intimidated them or threatened to derail their careers.

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The article is written by Ronan Farrow, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning story for the same magazine uncovering many of the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Moonves acknowledges to the New Yorker that were times decades ago when he may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances.

But he says, “Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: But he says, "Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely."

Farrow says six women who accuse Moonves of sexual misconduct had to overcome their fears of retaliation in order to tell their stories.

The writer says he spent eight months investigating the story that was published on Friday.

Farrow told The Associated Press that the story is “an opportunity to look at how our most important corporate institutions treat vulnerable people coming forward with these kinds of charges.”

READ MORE: #AfterMeToo — what Canada is doing to help protect women in the workplace

CBS says independent members of its board of directors are investigating personal misconduct claims amid the report.

The media company says it takes all allegations of personal misconduct seriously.

It says the independent directors are “investigating claims that violate the company’s clear policies in that regard.”

CBS did not name Moonves but said it issued the statement Friday in response to the New Yorker article before it was published.

Shares in CBS tumbled when the reports of the misconduct allegations began to circulate around noon Friday, as investors worried that Moonves might be forced to step down.

They closed down 6 per cent, the company’s worst one-day loss in more than six years.