‘Transactional’ Sex and a Secret Resignation Letter: Takeaways From a Report on Les Moonves

Leslie Moonves, the former chairman and chief executive of CBS, repeatedly lied to investigators about his behavior, according to a draft report by outside lawyers hired by CBS’s board to look into sexual misconduct allegations against him.

The 21,666-word draft, dated Nov. 27, is filled with new details about the conduct of Mr. Moonves and others at the company. The lawyers spoke to Mr. Moonves four times during the investigation. A final version of the report is expected to be presented to CBS’s board next week.

Here are four new revelations in the report, which was reviewed by The New York Times.

1. Investigators heard that a CBS employee was ‘on call’ to perform oral sex

The outside lawyers were told by multiple people that CBS had an employee “who was ‘on call’ to perform oral sex” on Mr. Moonves.

According to the draft report: “A number of employees were aware of this and believed that the woman was protected from discipline or termination as a result of it.”

The report didn’t identify the employee — and the lawyers didn’t interview her — but Mr. Moonves, in one of his multiple interviews with the lawyers, “admitted to receiving oral sex from the woman, his subordinate,” although he described it as consensual.

“Mr. Moonves vehemently denies having any non-consensual sexual relations,” Andrew J. Levander, Mr. Moonves’s lawyer, said on Tuesday. “He never put or kept someone on the payroll for the purpose of sex. He has cooperated extensively and fully with investigators.”