Amid Les Moonves Allegations, Advertisers Are Sticking by CBS—for Now

They don’t see the embattled CEO keeping his job

During CBS Corp.’s quarterly earnings call last Thursday, Les Moonves sounded like his usual über-confident self, making his typical boasts to investors about “record results,” “another very strong quarter,” “another terrific upfront” and “another great schedule this fall.” But the CEO and chairman was only able to maintain his braggadocio because no one on the earnings call—not Moonves himself nor any analysts who questioned him—brought up the elephant in the room: Ronan Farrow’s explosive New Yorker story in which six women, including actress Illeana Douglas, accused Moonves of sexual harassment and intimidation over several decades.

That CBS earnings call was just about the only time since Farrow’s story was published on July 27 that the topic of Moonves and his future at CBS didn’t come up in an industry conversation.

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This story first appeared in the August 6, 2018, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.