00:00The New York Times reported Tuesday that lawyers hired by CBS are about to submit a
00:04report to the board of directors, concluding that former CEO Leslie Munvez allegedly harassed
00:08more women than previously known, dating back more than two decades. According to the Times,
00:13which said it obtained a copy of the report ahead of its official release to CBS board members,
00:18Munvez then tried to conceal evidence of his behavior from a team of investigators who were
00:22hired to discover the truth. The investigation was initiated after Munvez stepped down on
00:27September 9 in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. Now, in addition to the
00:31disgraced mogul's ruined reputation, his severance package worth $120 million hangs in the balance.
00:38The report by lawyers hired by the network says the company has justification
00:42to deny Mr. Munvez his $120 million severance, the Times reported.
00:46The Times relays that the report says that Munvez engaged in multiple acts of serious,
00:50non-consensual sexual misconduct in and outside of the workplace,
00:54both before and after he came to CBS in 1995. Those who prepared the report wrote that when
00:59interviewing Munvez, he was evasive and untruthful at times, and he deliberately lied about and
01:04minimized the extent of his sexual misconduct. Investigators also said they received multiple
01:09reports about a network employee who was on call to perform oral sex on Munvez, the Times reported.
01:14A number of employees were aware of this and believed that the woman was protected from
01:18discipline or termination as a result of it, the lawyers wrote in their report.
01:22Munvez admitted to receiving oral sex from the woman, his subordinate, in his office,
01:27but described it as consensual. CBS declared to comment.
01:31Meanwhile, yet another accuser has come forward with allegations of being harassed by Munvez.
01:35June Seely Kimmel tells THR's Kim Masters that she pitched a movie idea to Munvez in 1985
01:41when he was the head of development at 20th Century Fox. Kimmel recalls, he said,
01:45We are going to make this movie. He came over and hugged me. I thought he was just being genuine.
01:49And he held me super close and proceeded to stick his tongue down my throat.
01:53It was revolting. He didn't even kiss me, just the tongue down the throat.
01:57The writer explains that after turning down Munvez's advances, she never heard from him again,
02:01and her film was never made. Kimmel has shared her story with the lawyers tasked with the CBS
02:05investigation. Kimmel's allegations followed those of actress Bobbie Phillips, who claimed that while
02:10Munvez was president of Warner Bros. TV in the 1990s, he met with her in his office
02:15and promised her parts on TV shows if she would be his girlfriend.
02:18Twenty years later, Munvez grew concerned that the actress would speak to New Yorker journalist
02:22Ronan Farrow and called Peter Golden, his casting director at CBS, and asked him to find her a part.
02:28Golden says that Munvez's request did not seem any different from other casting queries he has
02:33received from colleagues and has told The Hollywood Reporter that he did not know the casting was
02:37intended for the purpose of assuring Phillips' silence, as reported in The Times.
02:42To read more on this story, head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.
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