CBS Embodies #MeToo Ambivalence and Hope
The media giant has the power to influence society for the better as it repairs its own internal culture.
A media mogul’s fall reverberates.
Photographer: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic via Getty Images
A year ago, the world outside Hollywood would learn the name Harvey Weinstein and never forget it. That name would morph beyond the man into a symbol of the toxic culture that galvanized the #MeToo movement, a culture that had done a better job of protecting sexual predators in positions of power than their victims, and kept women silent about harassment and assault for fear of retaliation or not being believed.
The #MeToo floodgates were first opened with the Weinstein allegations last October, but CBS Corp.’s Les Moonves — though not a household name like Matt Lauer, CBS’s own Charlie Rose, and some of the others before him — has since become the most powerful figure taken down by allegations of sexual misconduct. Hand-picked by mogul Sumner Redstone to lead the TV-network operator in 2006, Moonves had long been perched atop the news and entertainment giant with the ability to make or break the careers of scores of actors, writers, newscasters and so on. Under Moonves, CBS directly employed more than 12,000 people, and he was a steward of some $20 billion of shareholder money.