Three days after he was named to the newly formed Office of the CEO of Paramount Global, George Cheeks, President and CEO of CBS, faced reporters at the unveiling of the broadcast network’s fall 2024 schedule.
On Monday, Bob Bakish exited as Paramount Global CEO, replaced by a trio of senior executives, division heads Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins who comprise the Office of the CEO.
Cheeks quipped about having an uneventful week and spoke briefly of his partnership with McCarthy and Robbins in his opening remarks.
Related: ‘Blue Bloods’ Future Is Sealed: The Long-Running Series Will Wrap For Good In December
“We are in the process of finalizing our strategic plan which we are going to roll out as soon as possible,” he said, echoing the trio’s comments from Monday.
Related: Upfronts 2024: Pilot Buzz & Other Development Updates In Another Atypical Broadcast Cycle
Cheeks also stressed...
On Monday, Bob Bakish exited as Paramount Global CEO, replaced by a trio of senior executives, division heads Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins who comprise the Office of the CEO.
Cheeks quipped about having an uneventful week and spoke briefly of his partnership with McCarthy and Robbins in his opening remarks.
Related: ‘Blue Bloods’ Future Is Sealed: The Long-Running Series Will Wrap For Good In December
“We are in the process of finalizing our strategic plan which we are going to roll out as soon as possible,” he said, echoing the trio’s comments from Monday.
Related: Upfronts 2024: Pilot Buzz & Other Development Updates In Another Atypical Broadcast Cycle
Cheeks also stressed...
- 5/2/2024
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish is officially out at the company.
The entertainment conglomerate — in the middle of a sales process — is turning to a handful of top executives to run the company.
Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks and Brian Robbins will make up an “Office of the CEO,” running Paramount on a day-to-day basis for now. The three executives will work with the Paramount board and CFO Naveen Chopra.
According to Paramount’s quarterly report, Bakish will officially step down on Tuesday, and has agreed to remain employed by the company through Oct. 31 as a “senior advisor.”
The dramatic change comes as Paramount is in the middle of an exclusive negotiating window with a potential buyer group consisting of David Ellison’s Skydance, RedBird Capital and Kkr, with talks circling a plan that would keep Paramount public but with Skydance and RedBird executives effectively running things and executing a new strategy.
The entertainment conglomerate — in the middle of a sales process — is turning to a handful of top executives to run the company.
Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks and Brian Robbins will make up an “Office of the CEO,” running Paramount on a day-to-day basis for now. The three executives will work with the Paramount board and CFO Naveen Chopra.
According to Paramount’s quarterly report, Bakish will officially step down on Tuesday, and has agreed to remain employed by the company through Oct. 31 as a “senior advisor.”
The dramatic change comes as Paramount is in the middle of an exclusive negotiating window with a potential buyer group consisting of David Ellison’s Skydance, RedBird Capital and Kkr, with talks circling a plan that would keep Paramount public but with Skydance and RedBird executives effectively running things and executing a new strategy.
- 4/29/2024
- by Alex Weprin and Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Updated, April 17, 2:11 Pm: Les Moonves has settled his debts with the City of Los Angeles, at least financially.
In a meeting of L.A.’s Ethics Commission on Wednesday afternoon, the body voted for a second time on a payout from the multimillionaire former CBS boss. Unlike the February 21 meeting, this time the proposed settlement passed.
“The members of the Ethics Commission approved the stipulation and ordered Leslie Moonves to pay a fine of $15,000 to the City of Los Angeles in accordance with the terms of the stipulation,” said the order (read it here) signed off on by the commissioners.
“Moonves, who is represented in this matter by Andrew J. Levander and Hartley M.K. West of Dechert Llp, admits that he violated City law by aiding and abetting the disclosure and misuse of confidential information and by inducing a City official to misuse his position to attempt to...
In a meeting of L.A.’s Ethics Commission on Wednesday afternoon, the body voted for a second time on a payout from the multimillionaire former CBS boss. Unlike the February 21 meeting, this time the proposed settlement passed.
“The members of the Ethics Commission approved the stipulation and ordered Leslie Moonves to pay a fine of $15,000 to the City of Los Angeles in accordance with the terms of the stipulation,” said the order (read it here) signed off on by the commissioners.
“Moonves, who is represented in this matter by Andrew J. Levander and Hartley M.K. West of Dechert Llp, admits that he violated City law by aiding and abetting the disclosure and misuse of confidential information and by inducing a City official to misuse his position to attempt to...
- 4/17/2024
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Leslie Moonves, the former CEO of CBS, was fined $15,000 on Wednesday by the L.A. City Ethics Commission for obtaining secret information in 2017 about an LAPD sex assault investigation of which he was the target.
The commission voted 4-0 to approve the penalty, which is the maximum allowed for ethics violations under the L.A. City Charter. The vote came two months after the commission rejected a $11,250 fine, finding it did not match the egregious nature of the violation.
The case, which reminded some observers of the police corruption depicted in “L.A. Confidential,” centered on Cory Palka, the retired commander of the Hollywood division. Palka also worked as a private security guard for Moonves for many years when the CBS chief would attend the Grammy Awards.
In November 2017, at the height of the #MeToo movement, former TV executive Phyllis Gottlieb walked into the Hollywood LAPD station to report that Moonves...
The commission voted 4-0 to approve the penalty, which is the maximum allowed for ethics violations under the L.A. City Charter. The vote came two months after the commission rejected a $11,250 fine, finding it did not match the egregious nature of the violation.
The case, which reminded some observers of the police corruption depicted in “L.A. Confidential,” centered on Cory Palka, the retired commander of the Hollywood division. Palka also worked as a private security guard for Moonves for many years when the CBS chief would attend the Grammy Awards.
In November 2017, at the height of the #MeToo movement, former TV executive Phyllis Gottlieb walked into the Hollywood LAPD station to report that Moonves...
- 4/17/2024
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
The Los Angeles City Ethics Committee has voted down a proposed settlement by the city with former CBS Corp. head Leslie Moonves for “aiding and abetting the disclosure of confidential information and inducing or attempting to induce the misuse of a City position.” In a unanimous 4-0 vote, committee president Jeffery J. Daar, VP Manjusha P. Kulkarni and members Rabbi Aryeh Cohen and Alex M. Johnson shot down a plan by the commission for Moonves to pay a $11,250 fine for his role in a 2017 LAPD scandal connected to his downfall at CBS.
According to Daar, the commissioners all agreed that the allegations against Moonves were serious enough to warrant the maximum $15,000 penalty currently allowed by the city charter, instead of the $11,250 agreement.
“I think it’s fair to say that the commissioners were very concerned with the very egregious allegations,” Daar told Variety.
Daar said it’s extremely rare for...
According to Daar, the commissioners all agreed that the allegations against Moonves were serious enough to warrant the maximum $15,000 penalty currently allowed by the city charter, instead of the $11,250 agreement.
“I think it’s fair to say that the commissioners were very concerned with the very egregious allegations,” Daar told Variety.
Daar said it’s extremely rare for...
- 2/21/2024
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
New legal documents made public Friday by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission indicate former CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves has paid an $11,250 fine for trying to influence a former LAPD captain.
NBC4 reports that in 2017, an L.A. police captain was leaking confidential information about a criminal investigation on Moonves. The top CBS executive had been accused of sexually assaulting a former employee.
Earlier this month, Moonves agreed to pay the $11,250 fine for violating the city’s ethics code by “inducing” a city official to misuse his position in order to create an advantage for Moonves.
The former LAPD captain, Corey Palka, personally provided Moonves with information about the LAPD investigation and the former Moonves employee who made the accusation. Palka was the commanding officer of the Hollywood Division in 2017.
The Ethics Commission said Palka met with Moonves on November 25, 2017 at a restaurant in Westlake Village to share confidential information.
NBC4 reports that in 2017, an L.A. police captain was leaking confidential information about a criminal investigation on Moonves. The top CBS executive had been accused of sexually assaulting a former employee.
Earlier this month, Moonves agreed to pay the $11,250 fine for violating the city’s ethics code by “inducing” a city official to misuse his position in order to create an advantage for Moonves.
The former LAPD captain, Corey Palka, personally provided Moonves with information about the LAPD investigation and the former Moonves employee who made the accusation. Palka was the commanding officer of the Hollywood Division in 2017.
The Ethics Commission said Palka met with Moonves on November 25, 2017 at a restaurant in Westlake Village to share confidential information.
- 2/17/2024
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Leslie Moonves, the ousted former leader of CBS Corp. whose storied career came to an abrupt end in 2018 amid the disclosure of past sexual assault allegations, has been ordered to pay an $11,250 fine by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission for his role in a 2017 LAPD scandal connected to his downfall at CBS.
In 2017, as CBS’ leader was increasingly consumed with dodging accusations of past sexual misconduct from multiple women, he was tipped off to a police report filed in November 2017 by one of those accusers. Former TV executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb alleged that Moonves sexually assaulted her in 1986 when the two worked together at Lorimar Television. Moonves’ informant was Cory Palka, then a captain in the Los Angeles Police Department. Palka had previously worked as a private security guard for Moonves at the Grammy Awards from 2008 to 2014. Palka then further violated confidentiality laws and law enforcement ethics by sending Moonves...
In 2017, as CBS’ leader was increasingly consumed with dodging accusations of past sexual misconduct from multiple women, he was tipped off to a police report filed in November 2017 by one of those accusers. Former TV executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb alleged that Moonves sexually assaulted her in 1986 when the two worked together at Lorimar Television. Moonves’ informant was Cory Palka, then a captain in the Los Angeles Police Department. Palka had previously worked as a private security guard for Moonves at the Grammy Awards from 2008 to 2014. Palka then further violated confidentiality laws and law enforcement ethics by sending Moonves...
- 2/17/2024
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
It’s a little early, but time for late-night TV fans to count their Thanksgiving blessings: Stephen Colbert announced on Thursday that former “Late Show” host David Letterman will return to the show on Monday, Nov. 20 — just in time for the holiday.
Colbert said, “On Monday, I am so happy to say, I will be joined right there, in that chair, by a man who is no stranger to the Ed Sullivan Theater, though I know for a fact he has not been here for eight-and-a-half years.”
This man is no stranger to The Ed Sullivan Theater! The legendary David @Letterman is returning to The Late Show for the first time for a rare conversation with @StephenAtHome!
Don’t miss #Colbert on @CBS this Monday, Nov. 20 at 11:35/10:35c. pic.twitter.com/dPxbUFcg18
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) November 17, 2023
“Because my guest,” he continued, “will be Mr. David Letterman.”
“Boom!
Colbert said, “On Monday, I am so happy to say, I will be joined right there, in that chair, by a man who is no stranger to the Ed Sullivan Theater, though I know for a fact he has not been here for eight-and-a-half years.”
This man is no stranger to The Ed Sullivan Theater! The legendary David @Letterman is returning to The Late Show for the first time for a rare conversation with @StephenAtHome!
Don’t miss #Colbert on @CBS this Monday, Nov. 20 at 11:35/10:35c. pic.twitter.com/dPxbUFcg18
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) November 17, 2023
“Because my guest,” he continued, “will be Mr. David Letterman.”
“Boom!
- 11/17/2023
- by Stephanie Kaloi
- The Wrap
A former producer on “60 Minutes” is suing CBS, CBS News and parent company Paramount Global for gender discrimination, claiming that she was wrongfully terminated from the newsmagazine program.
In a complaint obtained by Variety, which was filed on Tuesday in New York federal court, producer Alexandra Poolos says the network fired her after she was falsely accused of bullying an associate producer she supervised. Poolos indicates discrepancies in how her firing was handled by the company compared to several male producers and editors of “60 Minutes” who’ve allegedly been the subject of multiple sexual harassment complaints.
“Sexism and misogyny defined the workplace of CBS, including CBS News, over many years,” according to the complaint. Poolos cites sexual misconduct and harassment claims against former CBS chairman Leslie Moonves, ex-network anchor Charlie Rose and former “60 Minutes” executive producers Don Hewitt and Jeff Fager, as well as several other current producers on the program.
In a complaint obtained by Variety, which was filed on Tuesday in New York federal court, producer Alexandra Poolos says the network fired her after she was falsely accused of bullying an associate producer she supervised. Poolos indicates discrepancies in how her firing was handled by the company compared to several male producers and editors of “60 Minutes” who’ve allegedly been the subject of multiple sexual harassment complaints.
“Sexism and misogyny defined the workplace of CBS, including CBS News, over many years,” according to the complaint. Poolos cites sexual misconduct and harassment claims against former CBS chairman Leslie Moonves, ex-network anchor Charlie Rose and former “60 Minutes” executive producers Don Hewitt and Jeff Fager, as well as several other current producers on the program.
- 10/11/2023
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
A producer on CBS’s 60 Minutes is suing the network for firing her after she was accused of harassment while turning a blind eye to “far more egregious misconduct” by male employees.
The producer, Alexandra Poolos, says in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed against CBS on Tuesday in New York federal court that the company terminated her in violation of civil rights laws after she was falsely accused of bullying an associate producer she supervised. She points to discrepancies in how her firing was handled opposed to several male producers and editors of the program who’ve allegedly been the subject of various complaints for sexual harassment.
According to the complaint, “sexism and misogyny defined the workplace” at the network. She cites sexual misconduct and harassment claims against former CBS chairman Leslie Moonves, ex-network anchor Charlie Rose and former 60 Minutes executive producer Don Hewitt, as well as several...
The producer, Alexandra Poolos, says in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed against CBS on Tuesday in New York federal court that the company terminated her in violation of civil rights laws after she was falsely accused of bullying an associate producer she supervised. She points to discrepancies in how her firing was handled opposed to several male producers and editors of the program who’ve allegedly been the subject of various complaints for sexual harassment.
According to the complaint, “sexism and misogyny defined the workplace” at the network. She cites sexual misconduct and harassment claims against former CBS chairman Leslie Moonves, ex-network anchor Charlie Rose and former 60 Minutes executive producer Don Hewitt, as well as several...
- 10/11/2023
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jonathan Dolgen, the former head of Viacom Entertainment and a former top 20th Century Fox executive, died Oct. 9 of natural causes in Los Angeles. He was 78.
For a decade, from 1994 until 2004, the hard-charging Dolgen led Viacom’s film, television and amusement parks, as well as Simon & Schuster and its music publishing operations, establishing a reputation for smarts, drive and relentless focus on costs and efficiency in operations. He took the reins of Viacom’s entertainment assets not long after Sumner Redstone prevailed in a long and public battle with Barry Diller to acquire Paramount Pictures in September 1993.
“You come to work in the morning,” Dolgen once told the New York Times in a profile shortly after he took the job at Viacom. “And you work 12 hours, and then you’re off 12 hours. And then you come to work again, and you push, and keep pushing, and learn, and keep learning.
For a decade, from 1994 until 2004, the hard-charging Dolgen led Viacom’s film, television and amusement parks, as well as Simon & Schuster and its music publishing operations, establishing a reputation for smarts, drive and relentless focus on costs and efficiency in operations. He took the reins of Viacom’s entertainment assets not long after Sumner Redstone prevailed in a long and public battle with Barry Diller to acquire Paramount Pictures in September 1993.
“You come to work in the morning,” Dolgen once told the New York Times in a profile shortly after he took the job at Viacom. “And you work 12 hours, and then you’re off 12 hours. And then you come to work again, and you push, and keep pushing, and learn, and keep learning.
- 10/10/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Julie Chen Moonves said she questioned her husband, Leslie Moonves, over the 2018 sexual abuse allegations that resulted in his resignation as CBS CEO and disputed a previous statement that she made the decision to leave The Talk after a decade as co-host.
Chen Moonves opened up about both topics, while also declining to discuss the “believe her” movement with Juju Chang on Good Morning America on Monday. The Big Brother host appeared as part of a segment promoting her new memoir, But First, God, in which she details how in the past five years she “found God.” It’s an experience she says changed her from her a “self-absorbed, career-minded, vain, gossipy, fun to be with, but probably kind of a shallow person.”
During the discussion, Chen Moonves claimed that despite her statement announcing her departure from The Talk in 2018 as a move of her own, her exit was not on her own terms.
Chen Moonves opened up about both topics, while also declining to discuss the “believe her” movement with Juju Chang on Good Morning America on Monday. The Big Brother host appeared as part of a segment promoting her new memoir, But First, God, in which she details how in the past five years she “found God.” It’s an experience she says changed her from her a “self-absorbed, career-minded, vain, gossipy, fun to be with, but probably kind of a shallow person.”
During the discussion, Chen Moonves claimed that despite her statement announcing her departure from The Talk in 2018 as a move of her own, her exit was not on her own terms.
- 9/18/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Julie Chen Moonves starts our interview with a prayer.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for this beautiful day, and thank you for providing peace and patience,” she begins, after asking if I’d like to contribute or simply listen.
I choose the latter and admit that this is a first in the decade I’ve been a journalist.
Faith has become an important part of Chen Moonves’ life, especially in the past five years — following the ousting of husband Leslie Moonves, the former CBS Corp. CEO who disappeared from the limelight after he was fired over sexual misconduct allegations in 2018. While Chen Moonves chose to leave “The Talk” in the wake of her husband’s exit from CBS, she remained at the forefront of one of the network’s biggest shows, “Big Brother,” which premieres its 25th season on Aug. 2.
Now, she and her husband watch the reality show together, along with their 13-year-old son.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for this beautiful day, and thank you for providing peace and patience,” she begins, after asking if I’d like to contribute or simply listen.
I choose the latter and admit that this is a first in the decade I’ve been a journalist.
Faith has become an important part of Chen Moonves’ life, especially in the past five years — following the ousting of husband Leslie Moonves, the former CBS Corp. CEO who disappeared from the limelight after he was fired over sexual misconduct allegations in 2018. While Chen Moonves chose to leave “The Talk” in the wake of her husband’s exit from CBS, she remained at the forefront of one of the network’s biggest shows, “Big Brother,” which premieres its 25th season on Aug. 2.
Now, she and her husband watch the reality show together, along with their 13-year-old son.
- 7/26/2023
- by Emily Longeretta
- Variety Film + TV
Wearing a nondescript gray T-shirt with a backstage pass dangling from his neck, Jeff Shell looked more like a snowy-haired roadie than a VIP as he milled about in the wings of the Sahara Tent ahead of Blink-182’s set at Coachella on April 14. The NBCUniversal CEO had spent the day at the festival with his wife, Laura, in anticipation of the band’s first show in nearly a decade. Later, he took a seat alongside a leather-clad Kourtney Kardashian, whose long-running “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” holds a significant presence in the NBCUniversal spread, with all 20 seasons of the reality show having recently moved from Hulu to Peacock. But Shell wasn’t there on business. He enjoys close ties with the band’s bassist and co-lead vocalist, Mark Hoppus, a friendship forged thanks to their kids attending the same school in L.A.
While all appeared normal on the...
While all appeared normal on the...
- 4/26/2023
- by Tatiana Siegel
- Variety Film + TV
Producer Steven Paul has optioned the rights to “Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy,” with plans to develop the nonfiction bestseller by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams as a TV series.
The book, published by Penguin Random House in February, tells the sordid, behind-the-scenes story of the battle for control of Sumner Redstone’s media empire. The book has been the talk of the town in Hollywood as industry insiders learn the unvarnished details behind the recent history of Sumner and Shari Redstone, Viacom, CBS Corp., Leslie Moonves and a host of other prominent figures.
Rachel Abrams, Steven Paul and James B. Stewart
Paul is in the process of recruiting a writer to develop the property as a limited series through his Sp Media Group. The deal was brokered for Stewart and Abrams by CAA’s Ron Bernstein and Sp Media president Scott Karol.
The book, published by Penguin Random House in February, tells the sordid, behind-the-scenes story of the battle for control of Sumner Redstone’s media empire. The book has been the talk of the town in Hollywood as industry insiders learn the unvarnished details behind the recent history of Sumner and Shari Redstone, Viacom, CBS Corp., Leslie Moonves and a host of other prominent figures.
Rachel Abrams, Steven Paul and James B. Stewart
Paul is in the process of recruiting a writer to develop the property as a limited series through his Sp Media Group. The deal was brokered for Stewart and Abrams by CAA’s Ron Bernstein and Sp Media president Scott Karol.
- 4/20/2023
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
CBS announced that Ian Metrose, its longtime senior vp talent relations and special events, is leaving the network. The executive, who’d spent two decades at the company, has been under scrutiny since a New York Attorney General’s report in November 2022 revealed how he was centrally involved in efforts to counter sexual misconduct allegations against his then-boss, the former CBS head Leslie Moonves.
Metrose’s activities allegedly included serving as a go-between with an LAPD captain who provided him with a Moonves accuser’s confidential police report. Over a period of months, the New York A.G. contends he schemed with C-suite brass to quell a crisis they believed could ultimately knock off the chief. (Nonetheless, eventually, it did.) The matter has since been the subject of detailed coverage published in February in The Hollywood Reporter, as well as a new book, Unscripted, which examines corporate governance at CBS.
Metrose’s activities allegedly included serving as a go-between with an LAPD captain who provided him with a Moonves accuser’s confidential police report. Over a period of months, the New York A.G. contends he schemed with C-suite brass to quell a crisis they believed could ultimately knock off the chief. (Nonetheless, eventually, it did.) The matter has since been the subject of detailed coverage published in February in The Hollywood Reporter, as well as a new book, Unscripted, which examines corporate governance at CBS.
- 3/18/2023
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Longtime CBS talent relations executive Ian Metrose, who became wrapped up in the scandal surrounding former CBS chief Leslie Moonves, will exit at month’s end after 20 years with the network.
Metrose is understood to have made the decision to leave at the end of his current contract. But there is little doubt his departure was hastened by the scandal that erupted in November around Moonves and his association with the Los Angeles Police Department.
According to an investigation by New York Attorney General, Metrose was involved in communications in 2017 with retired LAPD Captain Cory Palka, who is accused of tipping off Moonves that a sexual assault complaint had been filed against him over an allegation dating back to the 1980s. Palka had built a relationship with Moonves and several CBS executives including Metrose after having been hired to provide security for Moonves at major events. Palka is under investigation by the LAPD.
Metrose is understood to have made the decision to leave at the end of his current contract. But there is little doubt his departure was hastened by the scandal that erupted in November around Moonves and his association with the Los Angeles Police Department.
According to an investigation by New York Attorney General, Metrose was involved in communications in 2017 with retired LAPD Captain Cory Palka, who is accused of tipping off Moonves that a sexual assault complaint had been filed against him over an allegation dating back to the 1980s. Palka had built a relationship with Moonves and several CBS executives including Metrose after having been hired to provide security for Moonves at major events. Palka is under investigation by the LAPD.
- 3/18/2023
- by Jennifer Maas
- Variety Film + TV
When news emerged in 2021 that Anthony Pellicano, fresh from serving a 15-year prison sentence, had returned to Hollywood and was working again for a major entertainment figure, the New York Times took notice.
Then-Times reporter and New York Times Presents senior producer Rachel Abrams was intrigued by reports that Pellicano had been hired by mega-producer Joel Silver (Die Hard, The Matrix) after his release from prison in 2019. Pellicano, a former go-to private investigator for the stars — his client list included Chris Rock, Michael Jackson, Brad Grey and Michael Ovitz — came under fire in the 2000s, when the Pi was convicted of wiretapping and racketeering, among other crimes, in legal proceedings that exposed the extent of Pellicano’s surveillance apparatus and the Hollywood figures that knowingly or unknowingly benefited from it. Abrams was joined in her interest by Liz Day, then a reporter and New York Times Presents supervising producer who...
Then-Times reporter and New York Times Presents senior producer Rachel Abrams was intrigued by reports that Pellicano had been hired by mega-producer Joel Silver (Die Hard, The Matrix) after his release from prison in 2019. Pellicano, a former go-to private investigator for the stars — his client list included Chris Rock, Michael Jackson, Brad Grey and Michael Ovitz — came under fire in the 2000s, when the Pi was convicted of wiretapping and racketeering, among other crimes, in legal proceedings that exposed the extent of Pellicano’s surveillance apparatus and the Hollywood figures that knowingly or unknowingly benefited from it. Abrams was joined in her interest by Liz Day, then a reporter and New York Times Presents supervising producer who...
- 3/10/2023
- by Katie Kilkenny
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Paramount Global has agreed to pay $122.5 million to settle a 2019 lawsuit by Viacom shareholders over the company’s 2019 merger with CBS.
The settlement was disclosed Friday in an SEC filing. In the filing (read it here), the company details the chronology of the case brought in Delaware Chancery Court. After disclosing the settlement amount, it notes the company is pursuing legal action against insurance carriers related to the case, though a specific amount for damages being sought was not mentioned.
Related Story Les Moonves And Paramount Global Agree To Pay $9.75M To Resolve NY State Attorney General Probe Related To CBS Shareholder Lawsuit Related Story 'Elsbeth': Wendell Pierce & Carra Patterson Join Carrie Preston In CBS' 'Good Wife' Offshoot Pilot Related Story 'Matlock': Skye P. Marshall Joins Kathy Bates In CBS Pilot
“The company is currently engaged in litigation regarding insurance coverage against certain of...
The settlement was disclosed Friday in an SEC filing. In the filing (read it here), the company details the chronology of the case brought in Delaware Chancery Court. After disclosing the settlement amount, it notes the company is pursuing legal action against insurance carriers related to the case, though a specific amount for damages being sought was not mentioned.
Related Story Les Moonves And Paramount Global Agree To Pay $9.75M To Resolve NY State Attorney General Probe Related To CBS Shareholder Lawsuit Related Story 'Elsbeth': Wendell Pierce & Carra Patterson Join Carrie Preston In CBS' 'Good Wife' Offshoot Pilot Related Story 'Matlock': Skye P. Marshall Joins Kathy Bates In CBS Pilot
“The company is currently engaged in litigation regarding insurance coverage against certain of...
- 3/3/2023
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
From the outset, Sumner Redstone was a curiosity.
A cluster of power players 50 years ago were suddenly bidding for control of Hollywood’s revered movie studios. Competition was intense but most of the bidders were not even “movie” people. In fact, they’d rarely seen a movie.
Related Story Les Moonves Lies, Shari Pushes, Philippe Dauman Falls, Sumner Steals His Grandson’s Girlfriend And Other Tales In New Book On The Redstones Related Story 'Scream VI' Headed To Franchise Record Opening At Box Office Related Story 'Dungeons & Dragons' John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein's GoldDay Inks First Look With Paramount Pictures
The exception was a cantankerous lawyer from Boston who’d inherited a small chain of theaters. Unlike characters like Steve Ross (funeral business), Kirk Kerkorian (airplanes) or Rupert Murdoch (newspapers), Redstone was passionate about film. He wanted to champion filmmaking and build a media conglomerate around that zeal.
A cluster of power players 50 years ago were suddenly bidding for control of Hollywood’s revered movie studios. Competition was intense but most of the bidders were not even “movie” people. In fact, they’d rarely seen a movie.
Related Story Les Moonves Lies, Shari Pushes, Philippe Dauman Falls, Sumner Steals His Grandson’s Girlfriend And Other Tales In New Book On The Redstones Related Story 'Scream VI' Headed To Franchise Record Opening At Box Office Related Story 'Dungeons & Dragons' John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein's GoldDay Inks First Look With Paramount Pictures
The exception was a cantankerous lawyer from Boston who’d inherited a small chain of theaters. Unlike characters like Steve Ross (funeral business), Kirk Kerkorian (airplanes) or Rupert Murdoch (newspapers), Redstone was passionate about film. He wanted to champion filmmaking and build a media conglomerate around that zeal.
- 2/16/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
A federal corruption prosecutor has joined the Los Angeles Police Department investigation into allegations that the department mishandled a sexual assault complaint against former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing the LAPD.
The news follows word that the department opened a probe in November into a now-retired LAPD officer’s alleged efforts to keep accusations leveled against the former CEO in 2017 that dated from the 1980s from going public.
Any criminal conduct uncovered in the probe would likely have occurred too far in the past to prosecute under local laws that have a three-year statute of limitations, the Times reported.
But the revelation that Mack Jenkins, head of the criminal division that includes the corruption unit for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, is working with the LAPD, opens up the possibility of federal charges against the officer and possibly others in the department involved in the case.
The news follows word that the department opened a probe in November into a now-retired LAPD officer’s alleged efforts to keep accusations leveled against the former CEO in 2017 that dated from the 1980s from going public.
Any criminal conduct uncovered in the probe would likely have occurred too far in the past to prosecute under local laws that have a three-year statute of limitations, the Times reported.
But the revelation that Mack Jenkins, head of the criminal division that includes the corruption unit for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, is working with the LAPD, opens up the possibility of federal charges against the officer and possibly others in the department involved in the case.
- 2/16/2023
- by Eileen AJ Connelly
- The Wrap
On Nov. 2, 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she’d secured a $30.5 million settlement from CBS and its former president and CEO Leslie Moonves for misleading the company’s investors about his misconduct, concealing sexual assault allegations against him and related insider trading by another top CBS executive. Her office also released a 37-page report detailing how members of Moonves’ C-suite and others unsuccessfully sought to neutralize the crisis before it knocked off the top boss, tanked the share price and gummed up a then-nascent merger with Viacom. It’s a damning case study in corporate complicity, control and cover-up.
The report centers on a yearlong sequence of events beginning in late 2017. Then-81-year-old Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, who died in July 2022, filed a confidential police report with the Los Angeles Police Department. Golden-Gottlieb alleged that Moonves had attacked her on multiple occasions in the 1980s, when they were both executives at Lorimar-Telepictures.
The report centers on a yearlong sequence of events beginning in late 2017. Then-81-year-old Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, who died in July 2022, filed a confidential police report with the Los Angeles Police Department. Golden-Gottlieb alleged that Moonves had attacked her on multiple occasions in the 1980s, when they were both executives at Lorimar-Telepictures.
- 2/16/2023
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As Paramount Global prepares to report quarterly earnings Thursday, with CEO Bob Bakish presiding and Shari Redstone happily ensconced as non-executive chair, a new book is bringing forth some interesting (and at times lurid) revelations about the company’s tortuous journey.
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy, a tale of sex, lies, family drama and boardroom backstabbing, is out this week and is already one of Amazon’s top sellers. Co-authors and New York Times colleagues James Stewart and Rachel Abrams gleefully expand on what has already been known about the epic dysfunction that swirled around late patriarch Sumner Redstone. As their account emphasizes, the mercurial loyalties, sexual obsessions and physical and mental decline of the company’s founder fomented chaos at the former Viacom and CBS Corp. Part salacious soap opera, part business book/legal chronicle, it charts the downward spiral of...
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy, a tale of sex, lies, family drama and boardroom backstabbing, is out this week and is already one of Amazon’s top sellers. Co-authors and New York Times colleagues James Stewart and Rachel Abrams gleefully expand on what has already been known about the epic dysfunction that swirled around late patriarch Sumner Redstone. As their account emphasizes, the mercurial loyalties, sexual obsessions and physical and mental decline of the company’s founder fomented chaos at the former Viacom and CBS Corp. Part salacious soap opera, part business book/legal chronicle, it charts the downward spiral of...
- 2/15/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
In Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams chart the byzantine corporate maneuvering and salacious personal embroilments that brought disgrace to billionaire Viacom owner Sumner Redstone and longtime CBS head Les Moonves — as well as trouble for their allies, sycophants, rivals and shareholders. The book, published Feb. 14, relies on exclusive access to key documents and participants in the soap-operatic drama to examine alleged sexual assault, elder abuse, financial shenanigans, legal negligence, boardroom power politics, executive cover-ups and the doomed dynamic in the relationships between a very wealthy, very old man and two very clever younger women.
Those two women, Sydney Holland and Manuela Herzer, who for a time toward the end of the mogul’s life resided in Redstone’s Beverly Park mansion, ended up rich. By the time he ultimately rid himself of them,...
Those two women, Sydney Holland and Manuela Herzer, who for a time toward the end of the mogul’s life resided in Redstone’s Beverly Park mansion, ended up rich. By the time he ultimately rid himself of them,...
- 2/14/2023
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
While everyone is focused on Rihanna’s pregnancy announcement at the 2023 Super Bowl Half Time Show, Janet Jackson’s performance decades earlier will go down in history as controversial. A wardrobe malfunction exposing part of Jackson’s breast led to her being seemingly blackballed by major players in the incident, while her performance partner Justin Timberlake went unscathed. This year, CBS reportedly had plans to make amends but ultimately failed.
Janet Jackson during Super Bowl Xxxviii Halftime Show | Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic CBS tried to honor Janet Jackson with award at 2023 Grammy’s but backed out after Jackson’s team demanded an apology for Super Bowl incident
According to TMZ, Grammy executives and CBS planned to honor Jackson to reconcile how she was vilified after the Super Bowl fiasco. She was set to receive the Global Impact Award. As part of the deal, Recording Academy members wanted the Poetic Justice star...
Janet Jackson during Super Bowl Xxxviii Halftime Show | Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic CBS tried to honor Janet Jackson with award at 2023 Grammy’s but backed out after Jackson’s team demanded an apology for Super Bowl incident
According to TMZ, Grammy executives and CBS planned to honor Jackson to reconcile how she was vilified after the Super Bowl fiasco. She was set to receive the Global Impact Award. As part of the deal, Recording Academy members wanted the Poetic Justice star...
- 2/13/2023
- by Brenda Alexander
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The children of the late TV executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, whose claims of sexual misconduct against Les Moonves helped lead to his resignation as CEO of CBS in 2018, spoke out on Jan. 20 about the Los Angeles Police Department’s mishandling of her confidential police report.
They and their attorney, Gloria Allred, said they met the previous day with LAPD Chief Michel Moore and an internal affairs investigator about since-retired Captain Cory Palka, who is now being probed by the department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for sharing a copy of Golden-Gottlieb’s report about Moonves, which she’d filed in late 2017 at LAPD’s Hollywood Division.
In November 2022, the New York Attorney General’s office announced CBS and Moonves would pay 30.5 million for concealing sexual assault allegations, misleading investors about his misconduct and related insider trading. The office also detailed how top CBS executives conspired for months...
They and their attorney, Gloria Allred, said they met the previous day with LAPD Chief Michel Moore and an internal affairs investigator about since-retired Captain Cory Palka, who is now being probed by the department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for sharing a copy of Golden-Gottlieb’s report about Moonves, which she’d filed in late 2017 at LAPD’s Hollywood Division.
In November 2022, the New York Attorney General’s office announced CBS and Moonves would pay 30.5 million for concealing sexual assault allegations, misleading investors about his misconduct and related insider trading. The office also detailed how top CBS executives conspired for months...
- 1/20/2023
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
“Dear Team,” the October note from Paramount Global executive David Nevins began. “I’m writing this morning, so you hear this news from me … the time is right for me to step down from my post atop the premium group at the end of the year.”
The decision was neither rash nor entirely unexpected. And while he made no mention of friction in the memo, sources close to Nevins suggest his role had become increasingly murky, and he was eager to have complete control of the Paramount+ streaming service, not simply a sliver here and there.
When Nevins and I meet at the Sunset Tower Hotel two months later, for the second installment of THR‘s “Table for Two” column, this one an exit interview, he isn’t interested in rehashing the decision to depart after 12 years. He does concede that his title...
“Dear Team,” the October note from Paramount Global executive David Nevins began. “I’m writing this morning, so you hear this news from me … the time is right for me to step down from my post atop the premium group at the end of the year.”
The decision was neither rash nor entirely unexpected. And while he made no mention of friction in the memo, sources close to Nevins suggest his role had become increasingly murky, and he was eager to have complete control of the Paramount+ streaming service, not simply a sliver here and there.
When Nevins and I meet at the Sunset Tower Hotel two months later, for the second installment of THR‘s “Table for Two” column, this one an exit interview, he isn’t interested in rehashing the decision to depart after 12 years. He does concede that his title...
- 12/20/2022
- by Lacey Rose
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The recent leadership shakeup at CBS — with network entertainment president Kelly Kahl exiting after 26 years and programming head Thom Sherman shifting to a producing deal — has placed a new focus on Paramount Global’s cost-cutting efforts.
The thinning of the executive ranks was accompanied by another round of layoffs — about 100 employees across Los Angeles and New York, with employees in the ad sales, CBS Studios and Paramount Television Studios divisions most affected. And last week’s C-suite changes follow the recent exit of Showtime chairman and CEO David Nevins and transition of Paramount advertising president Jo Ann Ross into an advisory role.
The moves are the latest sign of Paramount CEO Bob Bakish’s attempts to put his own stamp on the company that he’s led for three years. All four executives were holdovers from when Les Moonves ran CBS, and according to former NBC network executive Tom Nunan,...
The thinning of the executive ranks was accompanied by another round of layoffs — about 100 employees across Los Angeles and New York, with employees in the ad sales, CBS Studios and Paramount Television Studios divisions most affected. And last week’s C-suite changes follow the recent exit of Showtime chairman and CEO David Nevins and transition of Paramount advertising president Jo Ann Ross into an advisory role.
The moves are the latest sign of Paramount CEO Bob Bakish’s attempts to put his own stamp on the company that he’s led for three years. All four executives were holdovers from when Les Moonves ran CBS, and according to former NBC network executive Tom Nunan,...
- 11/22/2022
- by Lucas Manfredi
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
“The following is a true story. Except for cutting the boring shit and making up a bunch of stuff, this really happened.”
So opens Sex, Drugs and a Sitcom, a wild TV pilot script written by überproducer Chuck Lorre about the tumultuous time he spent steering the ship at Two and a Half Men. The series starred, of course, Charlie Sheen, then one of the highest-paid actors on TV, before he was fired in 2011 after publicly attacking Lorre, launching antisemitic insults and calling him a “turd” and a “clown.”
The script, obtained by THR, is dated June 15, 2022. According to a source, Lorre shopped it around town but didn’t set it up — though there’s little doubt it dropped a few jaws with its raucous, no-holds-barred account of what (possibly?) went on behind the scenes.
After opening with a fired-up Sheen being interviewed...
“The following is a true story. Except for cutting the boring shit and making up a bunch of stuff, this really happened.”
So opens Sex, Drugs and a Sitcom, a wild TV pilot script written by überproducer Chuck Lorre about the tumultuous time he spent steering the ship at Two and a Half Men. The series starred, of course, Charlie Sheen, then one of the highest-paid actors on TV, before he was fired in 2011 after publicly attacking Lorre, launching antisemitic insults and calling him a “turd” and a “clown.”
The script, obtained by THR, is dated June 15, 2022. According to a source, Lorre shopped it around town but didn’t set it up — though there’s little doubt it dropped a few jaws with its raucous, no-holds-barred account of what (possibly?) went on behind the scenes.
After opening with a fired-up Sheen being interviewed...
- 11/21/2022
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
“They’re looking for cost savings.” That’s how one Paramount Global insider explained why CBS CEO George Cheeks would dismiss CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl and his top lieutenant, Thom Sherman, after the duo led the broadcast network for an impressive five-year run that featured hits including Ghosts and FBI.
Put another way, Cheeks is making his mark on the first-place network after previously reshaping CBS News and Stations a year after he joined the former ViacomCBS to replace Joe Ianniello. Insiders described the mood at CBS as “really sad” after Kahl, a 26-year network veteran who followed former CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves over from Warner Bros. TV, was pushed out Nov. 16 with a “fair amount” of time remaining on his contract. “I thought Kelly was going to be buried at CBS,” quips another source.
With decades of institutional knowledge and...
“They’re looking for cost savings.” That’s how one Paramount Global insider explained why CBS CEO George Cheeks would dismiss CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl and his top lieutenant, Thom Sherman, after the duo led the broadcast network for an impressive five-year run that featured hits including Ghosts and FBI.
Put another way, Cheeks is making his mark on the first-place network after previously reshaping CBS News and Stations a year after he joined the former ViacomCBS to replace Joe Ianniello. Insiders described the mood at CBS as “really sad” after Kahl, a 26-year network veteran who followed former CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves over from Warner Bros. TV, was pushed out Nov. 16 with a “fair amount” of time remaining on his contract. “I thought Kelly was going to be buried at CBS,” quips another source.
With decades of institutional knowledge and...
- 11/21/2022
- by Lesley Goldberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Earlier this month, former LAPD commander Cory Palka made headlines for purportedly conspiring with CBS and its former CEO to prevent an explosive sexual assault allegation from going public. But long before the onetime head of the Hollywood Division began working behind the scenes to suppress claims against Les Moonves, he had revealing associations with the entertainment business and was the subject of multiple in-house LAPD investigations.
Palka’s complicated past was glimpsed in the settlement between New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, CBS and Moonves that first disclosed his private-sector work on behalf of the once-powerful network head. Palka had previously served as a “security aide” to Moonves at the Grammy Awards (distributed by CBS) between 2008 and 2014, the Nov. 2 settlement showed. But Palka, the son of an aspiring actor and onetime industry grip, also moonlit in his early days as an actor,...
Earlier this month, former LAPD commander Cory Palka made headlines for purportedly conspiring with CBS and its former CEO to prevent an explosive sexual assault allegation from going public. But long before the onetime head of the Hollywood Division began working behind the scenes to suppress claims against Les Moonves, he had revealing associations with the entertainment business and was the subject of multiple in-house LAPD investigations.
Palka’s complicated past was glimpsed in the settlement between New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, CBS and Moonves that first disclosed his private-sector work on behalf of the once-powerful network head. Palka had previously served as a “security aide” to Moonves at the Grammy Awards (distributed by CBS) between 2008 and 2014, the Nov. 2 settlement showed. But Palka, the son of an aspiring actor and onetime industry grip, also moonlit in his early days as an actor,...
- 11/18/2022
- by Gary Baum and Katie Kilkenny
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Restructuring, streamlining and realignment. We’ve been hearing that phrasing quite a bit over the past few months as media congloms have been thinning out their top executive ranks and targeting efficiencies to improve their balance sheets in a time when the effects from the pandemic are being exacerbated by the impact of the economic slowdown, high inflation and a looming recession.
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CBS president and CEO George Cheeks used the “restructuring and streamlining” language in his memos yesterday announcing the exits of Kelly Kahl, a 26-year CBS veteran,...
Related Story CBS Shakeup: Thom Sherman Steps Down & Segues To Producing Deal, Amy Reisenbach Upped To President Of Entertainment Related Story The TV Network Slot Machines Built? Nexstar Says Its Investment In The CW To Be Mostly Funded By Proceeds From Sale Of Chicago Property To Casino Developer Related Story Kelly Kahl To Depart As CBS Entertainment President After 26 Years At Broadcast Network
CBS president and CEO George Cheeks used the “restructuring and streamlining” language in his memos yesterday announcing the exits of Kelly Kahl, a 26-year CBS veteran,...
- 11/17/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Another broadcast network president is out.
Kelly Kahl, who has been with CBS for nearly three decades, is stepping down from his role as entertainment president at the network. Kahl will exit at year’s end as part of what CBS CEO George Cheeks described as part of a “restructuring and streamlining of leadership” at CBS Entertainment. A replacement for Kahl has not yet been determined.
The news was announced Wednesday morning with both Kahl and Cheeks sending memos to staff. Read both below.
The news comes as a surprise given Kahl’s longtime history with CBS and after he was tapped to serve as entertainment president at the network following Glenn Geller in 2017. The longtime Les Moonves exec — he came with him to CBS after serving as a research exec at Warner Bros. TV — rose to the top after rising to run scheduling for the network.
Another broadcast network president is out.
Kelly Kahl, who has been with CBS for nearly three decades, is stepping down from his role as entertainment president at the network. Kahl will exit at year’s end as part of what CBS CEO George Cheeks described as part of a “restructuring and streamlining of leadership” at CBS Entertainment. A replacement for Kahl has not yet been determined.
The news was announced Wednesday morning with both Kahl and Cheeks sending memos to staff. Read both below.
The news comes as a surprise given Kahl’s longtime history with CBS and after he was tapped to serve as entertainment president at the network following Glenn Geller in 2017. The longtime Les Moonves exec — he came with him to CBS after serving as a research exec at Warner Bros. TV — rose to the top after rising to run scheduling for the network.
- 11/16/2022
- by Lesley Goldberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Budd Friedman, the Broadway producer who founded The Improv comedy club franchise and kickstarted the careers of some of Hollywood’s biggest comic voices, died of heart failure Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 90 years old.
“The comedy world lost a giant today,” the Hollywood Improv wrote in a statement Saturday evening. “In 1963 he changed the world of comedy by creating the first comedy club for the masses to come together in laughter. In 1963 he changed the world. He went global. He was a pioneer. He was a gentleman. He was a luminary.”
The comedy world lost a giant today.
In 1963 he changed the world of comedy by creating the first comedy club for the masses to come together in laughter.
In 1963 he changed the world.
He went global.
He was a pioneer.
He was a gentleman.
He was a luminary. pic.twitter.com/l1pA38AGww
— Hollywood Improv (@HollywoodImprov...
“The comedy world lost a giant today,” the Hollywood Improv wrote in a statement Saturday evening. “In 1963 he changed the world of comedy by creating the first comedy club for the masses to come together in laughter. In 1963 he changed the world. He went global. He was a pioneer. He was a gentleman. He was a luminary.”
The comedy world lost a giant today.
In 1963 he changed the world of comedy by creating the first comedy club for the masses to come together in laughter.
In 1963 he changed the world.
He went global.
He was a pioneer.
He was a gentleman.
He was a luminary. pic.twitter.com/l1pA38AGww
— Hollywood Improv (@HollywoodImprov...
- 11/13/2022
- by Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
CBS is still employing Ian Metrose, the senior network executive who in 2017 acted as a go-between for an LAPD captain accused of leaking confidential information about sexual assault allegations filed against then-ceo Les Moonves, TheWrap has learned.
Metrose, a 20-year veteran of the network who serves as SVP of talent relations and special events, was one of a handful of CBS executives named last week in a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James – but the only one still working there. The report is the basis for a 24.5 million settlement that Paramount Global and Moonves agreed to pay to CBS shareholders over Moonves’ 2018 ouster after the sex abuse claims finally came to light.
According to James’ report, Metrose was an intermediary between a now-retired LAPD captain and senior CBS executives to obtain unredacted, confidential police reports, which they used to suppress news about the accusations against Moonves for weeks...
Metrose, a 20-year veteran of the network who serves as SVP of talent relations and special events, was one of a handful of CBS executives named last week in a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James – but the only one still working there. The report is the basis for a 24.5 million settlement that Paramount Global and Moonves agreed to pay to CBS shareholders over Moonves’ 2018 ouster after the sex abuse claims finally came to light.
According to James’ report, Metrose was an intermediary between a now-retired LAPD captain and senior CBS executives to obtain unredacted, confidential police reports, which they used to suppress news about the accusations against Moonves for weeks...
- 11/11/2022
- by Josh Dickey
- The Wrap
The Los Angeles Police department says it is investigating a now-retired LAPD captain accused of helping to keep accusations of sexual assault against former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves from becoming public.
News of the conduct came earlier Wednesday when the New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that Moonves and Paramount Global would pay a combined 24.5 million to CBS shareholders to settle insider trading and sexual misconduct claims.
As part of that case, James’ office said that Chief Communications Officer Gil Schwartz sold nearly 8.9 million in stock in the network after the LAPD captain secretly informed him, Moonves and other network executives that Moonves had been accused of sexual assault — and ahead of the public disclosure of the accusations. In addition to sharing confidential details of the accuser’s police report with top CBS executives, James’ office also said that the unIdentified LAPD captain worked with executives for months to...
News of the conduct came earlier Wednesday when the New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that Moonves and Paramount Global would pay a combined 24.5 million to CBS shareholders to settle insider trading and sexual misconduct claims.
As part of that case, James’ office said that Chief Communications Officer Gil Schwartz sold nearly 8.9 million in stock in the network after the LAPD captain secretly informed him, Moonves and other network executives that Moonves had been accused of sexual assault — and ahead of the public disclosure of the accusations. In addition to sharing confidential details of the accuser’s police report with top CBS executives, James’ office also said that the unIdentified LAPD captain worked with executives for months to...
- 11/3/2022
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
The LAPD said Wednesday that it has begun an internal investigation into a retired police commander who allegedly tipped off Leslie Moonves, then the CEO of CBS Corp., about a sexual assault investigation in November 2017, and who swore his “allegiance” to Moonves as he worked to keep the allegation out of the press.
The LAPD identified the retired commander on Wednesday night as Cory Palka, who left the department in February 2021 after 34 years on the force.
Palka’s conduct came to light on Wednesday as part of the New York Attorney General’s investigation into the company’s handling of the sexual misconduct allegations that ultimately forced Moonves’ ouster in 2018.
According to a 37-page report, Palka disclosed the woman’s allegation to a CBS executive just hours after she made the complaint. Palka later gave CBS executives a full copy of the confidential police report, including the woman’s personal identifying information,...
The LAPD identified the retired commander on Wednesday night as Cory Palka, who left the department in February 2021 after 34 years on the force.
Palka’s conduct came to light on Wednesday as part of the New York Attorney General’s investigation into the company’s handling of the sexual misconduct allegations that ultimately forced Moonves’ ouster in 2018.
According to a 37-page report, Palka disclosed the woman’s allegation to a CBS executive just hours after she made the complaint. Palka later gave CBS executives a full copy of the confidential police report, including the woman’s personal identifying information,...
- 11/3/2022
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Updating with details from New York Attorney General’s Office settlement.
Paramount Global and former CBS chief Leslie Moonves have reached a settlement with New York state as part of an investigation that uncovered new allegations of a cover-up and insider stock sales within CBS as sexual misconduct accusations against Moonves began to come to light in 2017 and 2018.
The deal calls for Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, to pay a total of about 22 million to be redistributed to shareholders, while another 2.5 million is to come from Moonves, who was terminated as chairman-ceo in September 2018. The settlement with the Attorney General’s Investor Protection Bureau related to class-action shareholder lawsuits and litigation asserting that Moonves and key CBS executives mislead executives by not disclosing Moonves’ vulnerabilities to explosive #MeToo allegations. The Ag’s settlement report asserts that Moonves and CBS were motivated to keep sexual misconduct allegations from going...
Paramount Global and former CBS chief Leslie Moonves have reached a settlement with New York state as part of an investigation that uncovered new allegations of a cover-up and insider stock sales within CBS as sexual misconduct accusations against Moonves began to come to light in 2017 and 2018.
The deal calls for Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, to pay a total of about 22 million to be redistributed to shareholders, while another 2.5 million is to come from Moonves, who was terminated as chairman-ceo in September 2018. The settlement with the Attorney General’s Investor Protection Bureau related to class-action shareholder lawsuits and litigation asserting that Moonves and key CBS executives mislead executives by not disclosing Moonves’ vulnerabilities to explosive #MeToo allegations. The Ag’s settlement report asserts that Moonves and CBS were motivated to keep sexual misconduct allegations from going...
- 11/2/2022
- by William Earl and Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Paramount Global will pay an additional 22 million to shareholders to resolve the New York Attorney General’s probe into sexual misconduct allegations involving former CBS chief Leslie Moonves, and Moonves himself will pay 2.5 million — a marked increase from the figure the company reported to the SEC earlier on Wednesday.
The deal was referenced among a list of other litigation updates in its Nov. 2 quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and further details were outlined in a Wednesday letter to the New York federal judge overseeing the nearly-settled securities class action. Then, Wednesday afternoon, the office of N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James issued a press release with new details and a higher price tag.
“CBS and Leslie Moonves’ attempts to silence victims, lie to the public, and mislead investors can only be described as reprehensible,” said James in the announcement.
Paramount Global will pay an additional 22 million to shareholders to resolve the New York Attorney General’s probe into sexual misconduct allegations involving former CBS chief Leslie Moonves, and Moonves himself will pay 2.5 million — a marked increase from the figure the company reported to the SEC earlier on Wednesday.
The deal was referenced among a list of other litigation updates in its Nov. 2 quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and further details were outlined in a Wednesday letter to the New York federal judge overseeing the nearly-settled securities class action. Then, Wednesday afternoon, the office of N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James issued a press release with new details and a higher price tag.
“CBS and Leslie Moonves’ attempts to silence victims, lie to the public, and mislead investors can only be described as reprehensible,” said James in the announcement.
- 11/2/2022
- by Ashley Cullins
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
On February 1, 2004, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake performed live at the halftime show of Super Bowl Xxxviii. The duo performed Timberlake's song "Rock Your Body" and gyrated suggestively. Then, as had been choreographed, Timberlake removed a piece of Jackson's costume, intending to reveal her bustier. He, however, accidentally pulled off too much of said costume. Jackson was exposed for half of a second, but it scandalized the world, and the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" immediately entered the lexicon. Many late-night talk show hosts were eager to joke about it, and some media watchdog groups clucked their tongues in disapproval.
CBS, who broadcast the Super Bowl, was ultimately not charged any fines, nor was MTV who produced it, although MTV was banned from producing any further halftime shows. The scandal caused a schism within Viacom, CBS' and MTV's parent company. Les Moonves, head of the CBS side, began to develop increasing shared animosity toward Tom Freston,...
CBS, who broadcast the Super Bowl, was ultimately not charged any fines, nor was MTV who produced it, although MTV was banned from producing any further halftime shows. The scandal caused a schism within Viacom, CBS' and MTV's parent company. Les Moonves, head of the CBS side, began to develop increasing shared animosity toward Tom Freston,...
- 10/18/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
Welcome to the 188th episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.
Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).
We’re joined this week by Jessica Radloff, the author of a massive oral history on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, who will share the many surprises she discovered while spending more than 115 hours interviewing nearly 40 people, including the cast and creators. Beyond that, it’s another ride on the executive carousel as we take a look at the big changes coming to The CW and Paramount Global.
Here’s how this week’s episode plays out:
1. Headlines
Chuck Lorre,...
Welcome to the 188th episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.
Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).
We’re joined this week by Jessica Radloff, the author of a massive oral history on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, who will share the many surprises she discovered while spending more than 115 hours interviewing nearly 40 people, including the cast and creators. Beyond that, it’s another ride on the executive carousel as we take a look at the big changes coming to The CW and Paramount Global.
Here’s how this week’s episode plays out:
1. Headlines
Chuck Lorre,...
- 10/7/2022
- by Lesley Goldberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In a fickle TV business where the top network posts rank at the bottom for job security, we lost two of the longest-tenured executives in just a couple of days: the CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz, who stepped down Monday, and David Nevins, Chairman and CEO, Paramount Premium Group and Chief Creative Officer, Paramount+ Scripted Series, whose exit was announced Thursday. Both were around the 12-year mark in their jobs.
The circumstances were different, though ownership changes and the never-ending evolution of the TV business were involved in both cases.
In addition to his reign atop of Showtime for the past dozen years, Nevins stepped in as Chief Creative Officer at CBS for two years after the ouster of Les Moonves. Then he added a string of responsibilities following the 2019 Viacom-CBS merger, including oversight of BET, Paramount TV Studios and Paramount+’s scripted programming. Those new challenges likely prolonged his tenure,...
The circumstances were different, though ownership changes and the never-ending evolution of the TV business were involved in both cases.
In addition to his reign atop of Showtime for the past dozen years, Nevins stepped in as Chief Creative Officer at CBS for two years after the ouster of Les Moonves. Then he added a string of responsibilities following the 2019 Viacom-CBS merger, including oversight of BET, Paramount TV Studios and Paramount+’s scripted programming. Those new challenges likely prolonged his tenure,...
- 10/6/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
For David Nevins, the choice to step down from his role as CEO of Paramount Global’s premium group and Paramount+ scripted series was a long time coming. The executive, who replaced Bob Greenblatt as president of Showtime 12 years ago, has seen his role grow and evolve in a tenure that started first at CBS Corp. and later at the re-merged with ViacomCBS that ultimately became Paramount Global.
“I’ve been thinking about [leaving] for a while,” Nevins told THR on Thursday afternoon. “It felt like as good as time as any. If I was going to make a change, I wanted to do it when I’m in my prime. I think the industry is transforming in a lot of interesting ways and exciting possibilities. I feel like the businesses I’ve been running are in good shape. I want to be clear...
For David Nevins, the choice to step down from his role as CEO of Paramount Global’s premium group and Paramount+ scripted series was a long time coming. The executive, who replaced Bob Greenblatt as president of Showtime 12 years ago, has seen his role grow and evolve in a tenure that started first at CBS Corp. and later at the re-merged with ViacomCBS that ultimately became Paramount Global.
“I’ve been thinking about [leaving] for a while,” Nevins told THR on Thursday afternoon. “It felt like as good as time as any. If I was going to make a change, I wanted to do it when I’m in my prime. I think the industry is transforming in a lot of interesting ways and exciting possibilities. I feel like the businesses I’ve been running are in good shape. I want to be clear...
- 10/6/2022
- by Lesley Goldberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Five years ago, the story that had long been whispered in the halls of agencies and studios, as well as on film and television sets, finally became public. A series of bombshell articles revealed that Harvey Weinstein harassed and assaulted dozens of women for decades and used his power to bully them into silence.
Weinstein’s fall was the fuse that ignited a revolution. That upheaval turned things around for the better, and culture has been forever changed. And yet, the entertainment industry still has a long way to go to untangle a complex web of decades of bad behavior. In an interesting turn of events, the fight for change that began nearly five years ago with those initial stories will be litigated once again in courtrooms across America in the coming weeks.
Sexual violence cases demonstrate the slow arc of justice and the many delays and detours it can take to achieve meaningful progress.
Weinstein’s fall was the fuse that ignited a revolution. That upheaval turned things around for the better, and culture has been forever changed. And yet, the entertainment industry still has a long way to go to untangle a complex web of decades of bad behavior. In an interesting turn of events, the fight for change that began nearly five years ago with those initial stories will be litigated once again in courtrooms across America in the coming weeks.
Sexual violence cases demonstrate the slow arc of justice and the many delays and detours it can take to achieve meaningful progress.
- 10/5/2022
- by Elizabeth Wagmeister
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Addicted to Succession? Well, here’s the real thing: An explosive new book will spill all about the power struggle to control Paramount.
Penned by two acclaimed New York Times reporters — James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams — Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy promises a juicy glimpse behind the scenes of the media empire built by Sumner Redstone, the colorful and cutthroat chairman of ViacomCBS (renamed Paramount in February) who died in 2020 at 97.
The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively reveal the cover of the book, on sale Feb. 14, 2023, which features six central figures of the saga seated around a conference table beneath a looming portrait of the late mogul.
Pictured from left are Redstone’s girlfriend Manuela Herzer, former Viacom chief Philippe Dauman, Redstone’s grandson Brandon Korff, ex-Redstone girlfriend Sydney Holland, CBS chairman Les Moonves and Redstone’s daughter Shari Redstone,...
Addicted to Succession? Well, here’s the real thing: An explosive new book will spill all about the power struggle to control Paramount.
Penned by two acclaimed New York Times reporters — James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams — Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy promises a juicy glimpse behind the scenes of the media empire built by Sumner Redstone, the colorful and cutthroat chairman of ViacomCBS (renamed Paramount in February) who died in 2020 at 97.
The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively reveal the cover of the book, on sale Feb. 14, 2023, which features six central figures of the saga seated around a conference table beneath a looming portrait of the late mogul.
Pictured from left are Redstone’s girlfriend Manuela Herzer, former Viacom chief Philippe Dauman, Redstone’s grandson Brandon Korff, ex-Redstone girlfriend Sydney Holland, CBS chairman Les Moonves and Redstone’s daughter Shari Redstone,...
- 10/4/2022
- by Seth Abramovitch
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman and Jeffrey Katzenberg were among the Hollywood luminaries who paid tribute to Bert Fields, the power lawyer who died in August at age 93, at a memorial service held Sunday at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.
Fields’ client Cruise, who appeared via video, shared how he met the lawyer — whom he referred to as the most interesting man in the world — at a dinner in 1989 with his Rain Man co-star Dustin Hoffman, another Fields client.
At the time, Cruise said, he didn’t know who Fields was, but when he found out Fields was Hoffman’s lawyer, he knew he wanted to hire the attorney.
Hoffman also was on hand at the service, where he spoke about Fields’ attributes, including his sense of humor as well as his loyalty.
Katzenberg also spoke, relaying how they often ate at The Grill on the Alley,...
Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman and Jeffrey Katzenberg were among the Hollywood luminaries who paid tribute to Bert Fields, the power lawyer who died in August at age 93, at a memorial service held Sunday at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.
Fields’ client Cruise, who appeared via video, shared how he met the lawyer — whom he referred to as the most interesting man in the world — at a dinner in 1989 with his Rain Man co-star Dustin Hoffman, another Fields client.
At the time, Cruise said, he didn’t know who Fields was, but when he found out Fields was Hoffman’s lawyer, he knew he wanted to hire the attorney.
Hoffman also was on hand at the service, where he spoke about Fields’ attributes, including his sense of humor as well as his loyalty.
Katzenberg also spoke, relaying how they often ate at The Grill on the Alley,...
- 10/3/2022
- by THR staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hollywood powerbrokers past and present officially said goodbye to one of their own Sunday.
Bert Fields, who died August 8 at the age of 93, was celebrated today by clients, family and colleagues at a memorial service in Santa Monica. Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Estrich and Michael Ovitz paid tribute to the Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger Llp partner and industry consigliere in front of a well-heeled crowd that included Fields’ widow Barbara Guggenheim, Leslie Moonves and Julie Chen Moonves, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and David Geffen among many others.
Individually, Katzenberg, Hoffman and Ovitz remembered a man who was clearly as much their friend as he was their lawyer.
Related Story Bert Fields Dies: Powerhouse Showbiz Lawyer For Tom Cruise, Weinsteins, George Lucas, Michael Jackson, Beatles & Many Others Was 93 Related Story Vertical Entertainment Pre-Buys Family Dramedy 'Sam & Kate' Starring Dustin Hoffman And Sissy Spacek Related Story...
Bert Fields, who died August 8 at the age of 93, was celebrated today by clients, family and colleagues at a memorial service in Santa Monica. Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Estrich and Michael Ovitz paid tribute to the Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger Llp partner and industry consigliere in front of a well-heeled crowd that included Fields’ widow Barbara Guggenheim, Leslie Moonves and Julie Chen Moonves, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and David Geffen among many others.
Individually, Katzenberg, Hoffman and Ovitz remembered a man who was clearly as much their friend as he was their lawyer.
Related Story Bert Fields Dies: Powerhouse Showbiz Lawyer For Tom Cruise, Weinsteins, George Lucas, Michael Jackson, Beatles & Many Others Was 93 Related Story Vertical Entertainment Pre-Buys Family Dramedy 'Sam & Kate' Starring Dustin Hoffman And Sissy Spacek Related Story...
- 10/2/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Amid the torrent of accusations leveled against powerful Hollywood men in the frenzied first few months of the #MeToo era, industry observers often shared the same jaded expectation. Short of arrest or indictment, the thinking went, the accused would be back on their feet after a brief time-out and a few memory-cleansing news cycles, carrying on with their careers unaffected. The dollar is king; Hollywood always forgets; etc.
This hasn’t happened. In fact, comebacks — if they materialize at all — are strikingly and significantly circumscribed. One of #MeToo’s greatest victories, at the practical level, has been its unrelenting administration of professional punishment.
Think about how few prominent individuals felled by sexual harassment or assault allegations in the post-Weinstein era have returned to an equivalent stature. The category excludes the likes of Jamie Foxx and Ryan Seacrest, whose denials of the allegations against...
Amid the torrent of accusations leveled against powerful Hollywood men in the frenzied first few months of the #MeToo era, industry observers often shared the same jaded expectation. Short of arrest or indictment, the thinking went, the accused would be back on their feet after a brief time-out and a few memory-cleansing news cycles, carrying on with their careers unaffected. The dollar is king; Hollywood always forgets; etc.
This hasn’t happened. In fact, comebacks — if they materialize at all — are strikingly and significantly circumscribed. One of #MeToo’s greatest victories, at the practical level, has been its unrelenting administration of professional punishment.
Think about how few prominent individuals felled by sexual harassment or assault allegations in the post-Weinstein era have returned to an equivalent stature. The category excludes the likes of Jamie Foxx and Ryan Seacrest, whose denials of the allegations against...
- 9/30/2022
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The dogfight between Judith Sheindlin and CBS against Rebel Entertainment Partners over the 95 million sale of the Judy Judy library is over, but not finished.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kristin S. Escalante has granted a motion by Sheindlin, Big Ticket Pictures and the Paramount Global-owned CBS to dismiss the two-year-old suit from self-described “successor in interest” Rebel over the more than 5 million the latter claims it is owed for the admittedly convoluted 2017 sale.
“Defendants Big Ticket Pictures, Inc.; CBS Studios, Inc.; CBS Corporation; Judith Sheindlin; and Her Honor, Inc. are entitled to judgment in their favor on all causes of action as fully reflected in the Order, which is signed and filed on this date and incorporated herein by reference to the Court file,” the judge wrote in a September 28 minutes order (read it here).
The judge added in a full order later in the day:
However, before the victory dances commence,...
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kristin S. Escalante has granted a motion by Sheindlin, Big Ticket Pictures and the Paramount Global-owned CBS to dismiss the two-year-old suit from self-described “successor in interest” Rebel over the more than 5 million the latter claims it is owed for the admittedly convoluted 2017 sale.
“Defendants Big Ticket Pictures, Inc.; CBS Studios, Inc.; CBS Corporation; Judith Sheindlin; and Her Honor, Inc. are entitled to judgment in their favor on all causes of action as fully reflected in the Order, which is signed and filed on this date and incorporated herein by reference to the Court file,” the judge wrote in a September 28 minutes order (read it here).
The judge added in a full order later in the day:
However, before the victory dances commence,...
- 9/29/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
For nearly two decades, Harvey Weinstein’s predatory tendencies were legend in Hollywood. And until a news organization could gather the sourcing and the courage to take on the mogul, that’s what they would remain. In 2017, 29-year-old NBC reporter Ronan Farrow was convinced he had the goods, with several of Weinstein’s victims willing to go on the record. Then his higher-ups held up the story. Undaunted, Farrow turned to The New Yorker. His feature for the magazine, along with an investigation by The New York Times, turned the whispers into fact and kicked off the #MeToo reckoning in October 2017. Farrow followed with exposés on Brett Kavanaugh, Leslie Moonves and Andrew Cuomo. Today, Weinstein is behind bars and many of Hollywood’s most powerful men have been held to account, several by THR’s Kim Masters, who has reported on allegations of...
For nearly two decades, Harvey Weinstein’s predatory tendencies were legend in Hollywood. And until a news organization could gather the sourcing and the courage to take on the mogul, that’s what they would remain. In 2017, 29-year-old NBC reporter Ronan Farrow was convinced he had the goods, with several of Weinstein’s victims willing to go on the record. Then his higher-ups held up the story. Undaunted, Farrow turned to The New Yorker. His feature for the magazine, along with an investigation by The New York Times, turned the whispers into fact and kicked off the #MeToo reckoning in October 2017. Farrow followed with exposés on Brett Kavanaugh, Leslie Moonves and Andrew Cuomo. Today, Weinstein is behind bars and many of Hollywood’s most powerful men have been held to account, several by THR’s Kim Masters, who has reported on allegations of...
- 9/29/2022
- by Rebecca Keegan, Moderator
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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