Former CBS chief Les Moonves fined for trying to sway LAPD sexual assault investigation

Former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has been fined $11,250 by the city of Los Angeles for interfering in a police investigation against him.

The investigation pertained to whether Moonves had sexually assaulted Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, a former employee, according to NBC News.

While serving as captain of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood division in 2017, then-Capt. Corey Palka allegedly pledged his allegiance to Moonves and began leaking to him confidential information about the investigation.

The two knew each other because Palka had previously been hired to serve as Moonves’ security guard during the Grammy Awards.

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission has said that the pair met on Nov. 25th, 2017 to exchange information.

“They met for about an hour and discussed the LAPD investigation. The meeting was not part of the official investigation by the LAPD,” according to legal documents made public by the commission on Friday.

The following month, Moonves reportedly texted Palka and the two discussed the case again.

Palka has for his part claimed he knows nothing about any of this.

As for the victim, she reportedly said during a news conference two years ago that Moonves had sexually assaulted her while she working for him at an entertainment firm in 1986.

“When she made the crime report to the LAPD in 2017, the incident was well beyond the statute of limitations, and no criminal charges could have been filed, even if an investigation determined there was enough evidence to proceed,” NBC News notes.

The LAPD eventually opened an investigation into Palka in 2022.

“I am beyond outraged,” LAPD commissioner William Briggs said at a Board of Police Commissioners meeting. “This is a stunning example of what some refer to as old-time cronyism that goes to the heart of corruption.”

Weirdly enough, the New York Attorney General’s Office is also involved.

“Meddling in the case by CBS and Moonves was first revealed in an insider trading settlement with the New York Attorney General’s Office,” according to the New York Post.

“CBS and Moonves were ordered to pay $30.5 million dollars in 2022 by Attorney General Letitia James for insider trading and covering up multiple sexual assault allegations against the executive.”

At the time, James said the whole affair amounted to a violation of the state’s insider trading laws, given as Moonves had benefitted from concealing information from investors and the public.

“As a publicly traded company, CBS failed its most basic duty to be honest and transparent with the public and investors,” she said in a statement. “After trying to bury the truth to protect their fortunes, today CBS and Leslie Moonves are paying millions of dollars for their wrongdoing.”

“Today’s action should send a strong message to companies across New York that profiting off injustice will not be tolerated and those who violate the law will be held accountable,” she added.

Moonves reportedly resigned from CBS in 2018 after a dozen women accused him of sexual assault. He’s denied all the accusations.

Palka meanwhile sent a loyal message to Moonves after the resignation.

“I’m deeply sorry this happened. I will always stand with, by and pledge my allegiance to you,” he reportedly wrote.

Golden-Gottlieb spoke with The New Yorker in 2018 about the sexual assault against her.

“Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb … told me that she filed a criminal complaint late last year with the Los Angeles Police Department, accusing Moonves of physically restraining her and forcing her to perform oral sex on him, and of exposing himself to her and violently throwing her against a wall in later incidents,” according to the paper.

“The two worked together in the late nineteen-eighties. Law-enforcement sources told me that they found Golden-Gottlieb’s allegations credible and consistent but prosecutors declined to pursue charges because the statutes of limitations for the crimes had expired. Early this year, Moonves informed a portion of the CBS board about the criminal investigation.”

Vivek Saxena

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