NOBODY IS GOING TO BELIEVE YOU

On Sunday September 9, 2018. Mr. Leslie Moonves resigned from his position as CEO and chairman at CBS, after six more women stepped forward to accuse him of sexual harassment and/or assault going back all the way to the 1980s. But let’s rewind.

On July 27th 2018, the New Yorker exposed the first story about Moonves’ actions with sexual harassment and missconducts allegations from at least 6 women. Despite the allegations, Moonves remained the CEO of CBS. Not only that, his close team which includes many execs who had been with him since the 1980s and early ‘90s, remained loyal and rejected the allegations with the network making a statement that they would investigate the allegations themselves.

Moonves gave his own statement at the time saying: “I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely” and bizarrely that’s all that happened.

Following the shocking lack of reaction and the network failing to actually do anything about it, over 33,700 Care2 activists signed a petition demanding that CBS believe these women and hold Moonves accountable.

Still nothing happened.

Until Sunday, when a new report from The New Yorker detailed accusations of sexual harassment and assault from six additional women against Moonves came out, forcing him to resign the following morning.

In a statement the network gave after the resignation it was made clear that Moonves would not receive any severance benefits at this time, and any future payment will depend upon the results of the independent investigation. Also, Moonves and CBS said they would donate $20 million to “one or more organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace.”

I know, I know, well done, right? I mean they are giving money and he has lost his job so everything is good, right?

WRONG.

Personally, I don’t understand what took them so long? I mean, did we REALLY need to hear from SIX other women to believe the first SIX women? and who are we kidding, I mean with so many stories dating all the way back to the 80’s, does anyone REALLY expect us to believe that no one knew?! I’m sorry, but when something has been going on for that long, and when the person involved is as high up the ladder as Moonves was, there is no way in hell no one knew about it.

I’ve been reading a lot about this in the past 24 hours and I can see the press is making the story about all sort of things that frankly are less important in my opinion. Like should his wife stand by him, and how much money will he get, and other speculations about the future of the network, but for me this story is about one thing, and that is: BELIEVING WOMEN.

Here is a man who, according to claims detailed in The New Yorker, while at a doctors appointment tried to kiss his doctor and make advancements towards her, who lured young female assistant into his office and forced them into performing oral sex, who regularly harassed make up artists working on the lot, taunting them with words like “nobody is going to believe you”.

And he was right.

No one believed, not just one women, but SIX! It took TWELVE women to get CBS to do something about it, and THAT to me is the biggest story of all.

You see, it is a collective responsibility, the entire company’s job to provide a safe environment for its workers and people that work with them and the only thing that is left to say when you think about it is that the corruption and covering up that goes on behind closed doors in big corporations that ‘take care of their own’, where the rich and powerful are protected and untouchable, and where nepotism (or at least what reeks of it) is overlooked (Moonves was known for cutting massive network shows for a slight dip in ratings, while shows like Big Brother, and talk show The Talk which have both dramatically declined in viewership but are also happen to be hosted by his wife, mysteriously got renewed every) – HAS GOT TO STOP!