【Ava Fabian Archives】

At this point,Ava Fabian Archives the sexual harassment allegations against CBS head Les Moonves sound sickeningly, depressingly familiar.

Four women who spoke with The New Yorker's Ronan Farrow, including actress/writer Ileana Douglas, writer Janet Jones, and producer Christine Peters, recounted Moonves touching or kissing them without their consent during work meetings.

Two more, including writer Dinah Kirgo, said they verbally rebuffed his advances, only to see their careers suffer as a result. The six incidents detailed in the piece span from the 1980s to the early 2000s.

SEE ALSO: CBS fires Charlie Rose following sexual misconduct allegations

The specific details may not match precisely with the ones we've heard about men like Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Charlie Rose. But the echoes are unmistakable.

Once again, we have a powerful man harassing and assaulting women. Once again, his victims' livelihoods are threatened or derailed – whether because they're discouraged and traumatized by these events, or because their predator makes an active effort to destroy them. Once again, the man nevertheless remains on top for decades, protected by his privilege and influence and money.

What this latest story underlines, however, is that these aren't individual issues, but systemic and institutional ones. When a man in power – like Moonves – abuses his authority, the toxicity spreads and infects the entire organization keeping him in place.

In addition to the six women alleging harassment by Moonves himself, Farrow spoke with 30 other CBS employees (ex- and current) who chronicled a company-wide "boys' club," "Mad Menculture" of offensive, sexist behavior. One producer said, "It’s top down, this culture of older men who have all this power and you are nothing."

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Moonves' own actions, it turns out, aren't even the half of it. The New Yorkeralso goes into several accusations of forcible touching by 60 Minutesexecutive producer Jeff Fager; allegations of lewd or inappropriate comments from 60 Minutesproducer Ira Rosen; and a claim of physical abuse by 60 Minutessenior producer Michael Radutzky. (60 Minutesfigures into a lotof the dirt here.)

Then there's the misconduct we already knew about, from people like Rose and NCIS: New Orleansexecutive producer Brad Kern – who, the piece notes, is currently in the middle of a thirdinvestigation by the company into his behavior.

Fixing CBS' culture – and the industry's at large – will involve tearing out its toxicity by the roots.

Those are just the known perpetrators, mind you. Interview subjects alluded to "several" people who don't seem to have been called out by name.

All of which raises the question: Why are men like Kern, who was flagged for sexual harassment, discrimination, and making sexist and racist comments, given chance after chance, while survivors like Kirgo gain a reputation for being "difficult"?

While it's unclear which personnel decisions Moonves directly had a hand in, it is clear that, as the head of the company, Moonves had a lot of sway in establishing and reinforcing its culture. Or, as one former CBS News producer put it: "If it's just behavior from the top, tolerated at the top, and there’s no one to talk to, what do you do?"

For his part, Moonves responded with a statement denying the allegations. "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," he wrote.

"But I always understood and respected – and abided by the principle – that ‘no’ means ‘no,’ and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone’s career."

As these stories make clear, however, these issues go far beyond whether Moonves himself made "uncomfortable" advances, or refused to hear "no means no." Fixing CBS' culture – and the industry's at large – will involve tearing out misogyny and discrimination by the roots.

That means, yes, getting rid of Moonves. But it can’t end there

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