Cybill Shepherd Claims Les Moonves Derailed Her CBS Show After She Rejected Him on a Dinner Date
December 16, 2018Actress Cybill Shepherd says she once rejected former CBS CEO Les Moonves after he propositioned her while they were dining at a restaurant.
At the time, Shepherd, 68, was starring in the CBS sitcom Cybill — and she claims the show suffered after she rebuffed his advances.
“My show could have run another five years, but I didn’t fall on the right side of Les,” she said during an interview on SiriusXM’s The Michelle Collins Show. “I wasn’t going to fall, at all, for Les.”
In July, a dozen women accused Moonves of sexual misconduct in a piece by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker. Moonves was removed as chairman and CEO of the network in September after six additional women raised accusations against him.
According to Shepherd, the alleged incident occurred after her and Moonves’ respective assistants set up a dinner date between the two.
“We went to it and he was — well, he was telling me his wife didn’t turn him on, some mistress didn’t turn him on,” Shepherd said.
Moonves was married to Nancy Moonves from 1978-2003 and is currently married to Big Brother host Julie Chen.
Shepherd continued: “And I’m watching him drink alcohol and he says, ‘Well, you know, why don’t you let me take you home?’ I said, ‘No, I’ve got a ride.’ And I had my car outside with a good friend of mine who is an off-duty LAPD officer.”
Shepherd said her show began to run into issues “quite shortly afterwards.” (It aired for four seasons from 1995-1998.)
“It would have run another five years,” she said. “We had the best writers in the world, and directors and actors — everybody was brilliant.”
A rep for Moonves did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
RELATED VIDEO: Actress Accuses Ousted CBS CEO Les Moonves of 1995 Sexual Assault and Cover-Up in New Report
Moonves has denied the allegations leveled against him.
“I have never used my position to hinder the advancement or careers of women,” he previously said in a statement to The New Yorker. “In my 40 years of work, I have never before heard of such disturbing accusations. I can only surmise they are surfacing now for the first time, decades later, as part of a concerted effort by others to destroy my name, my reputation, and my career.”
Source: Read Full Article