Yesterday, CBS head Leslie Moonves was booted from the network (technically he “resigned”), following allegations from a dozen women that he sexually harassed or assaulted them. Previous reports suggest that Moonves would possibly a receive an absurdly huge payout from CBS as severance (around $100 million), but all we heard about that yesterday was that any severance would be withheld until after CBS had completed an investigation and that Moonves would be donating $20 million from this hypothetical severance to organizations that support #MeToo.
Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that may be the last we hear of this. Apparently, Moonves’ deal with the network is so sweet that both sides have agreed that they can only put out statements are a “non-defamatory in nature” once the investigation is concluded. In other words, if CBS finds something about Moonves that doesn’t cast him in a good light, it cannot release it publicly. CBS also agreed to keep “all written and oral reports by the investigators” confidential, Moonves has the right to fight any conclusions the investigators make, and that an additional $120 million severance is being held for Moonves in a trust until the investigation is concluded.
That means he could stand to make $120 million because he was accused of sexual harassment, and since it’s all confidential, the public may never even know how much of that money he gets. Isn’t that just grand?