LAPD captain told CBS about Moonves sexual assault complaint, New York attorney general says

World Paramount and former CBS chief Les Moonves agreed to make additional payments to settle an investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s office, which revealed new allegations Wednesday about the department’s role Los Angeles police in the case.

The investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia James found that an LAPD commander tipped off the former CBS chief executive and other executives in 2018 about sexual assault allegations before they were released. are not made public.

According to a file from James’s office, the LAPD officer left this voicemail message to CBS executive Ian Metrose: “I know we haven’t spoken in a while. I’m a captain at LAPD Hollywood. Someone walked into the station about a couple a few hours ago and made sexual assault allegations against your boss It’s confidential, as you know, but give me a call, and I can give you some details and let you know what the allegation is before it goes to the media or is published. So okay, let’s talk about that a bit later. Bye.

The findings also allege that one of the senior executives sold millions of dollars worth of stock based on the information and before it was made public. James said CBS authorized executive Gil Schwartz to sell more than 160,000 shares, or more than $8 million, six weeks before a story about the allegations against Moonves was published. Schwartz, who wrote books under the pseudonym Stanley Bing including “Crazy Bosses: Spotting Them, Serving Them, Surviving Them,” died in 2020.

James said she referred the case to the California attorney general’s office. A representative for the LAPD declined to comment. CNBC has reached out to representatives for Moonves and Metrose, who still works at the company. Paramount declined to comment further on him.

“We are pleased to resolve this matter regarding the events of 2018 with the New York Attorney General’s office, without any admission of liability or wrongdoing,” a Paramount spokesperson said Wednesday. “The case involved alleged misconduct by the former CEO of CBS, who was terminated for cause in 2018, and has no connection to the current company.”

CBS and Viacom merged in 2019, later changing the company’s name to Paramount Global.

The investigation found text messages between the LAPD captain, senior CBS executives and Moonves that revealed the allegations. The captain also worked with executives for several months to keep the complaint from becoming public, according to the attorney general’s statement on Wednesday.

Moonves left CBS in 2018 after allegations of sexual misconduct and cultural issues at the company. After his release, the board hired two law firms to investigate the allegations, concluding that the executive should be fired for cause. Moonves has previously denied the charges.

As part of Paramount’s third-quarter earnings filings Wednesday, the company said it had agreed to pay $7.25 million to shareholders, while Moonves would pay $2.5 million. This is in addition to the $14.25 million previously paid by Paramount as part of the settlement.

“The attempts by CBS and Leslie Moonves to silence the victims, lie to the public and mislead investors can only be described as reprehensible,” James said in Wednesday’s statement. “As a publicly traded company, CBS failed in its most fundamental duty to be honest and transparent with the public and investors.”

The regulations also prohibit Moonves from serving as an officer or director of a corporation that does business in New York without first obtaining approval from the attorney general’s office.

Paramount said in public filings Wednesday that the company reached an agreement with the New York Attorney General’s Office of Investor Protection without admitting wrongdoing or liability.