CBS Has No Plans to Release Investigatory Report Into Accusations Against Leslie Moonves

Leslie Moonves has left CBS following accusations of sexual misconduct and a settlement between the company’s board of directors and controlling stakeholder National Amusements Inc. But Moonves could walk away with $120 million and the public will never know, because the separation agreement has a broad confidentiality clause and the possibility of private arbitration.

The settlement was announced on Sunday night, hours after a second New Yorker article by Ronan Farrow detailed six more allegations of sexual misconduct. The deal does not end the ongoing internal investigation into Moonves’ conduct — which is being handled by two law firms — but it will finish litigation between Shari Redstone’s NAI and CBS for control of the company that was scheduled for trial in October.

Moonves’ contract says he was due substantial payments in salary, bonuses and stock rewards over the next four years. If he was fired “for cause,” however, The Hollywood Reporter writes that Moonves would lose much of the payout. Moonves and CBS are donating $20 million to an organization that supports the #MeToo movement.

But according to THR, “[CBS] shall seek to preserve the confidentiality of all written and oral reports by the investigators in the Internal Investigation and all information and findings developed by the investigators or included in such written or oral reports in relation to Executive (the ‘Investigator Information’) and not to make public such Investigator Information to the maximum extent possible consistent with fiduciary duties of directors and all applicable laws.”