CBS Scandal Rocks The Soap Opera World!

Leslie Moonves, the former chief executive officer of CBS, stepped down from his position in September after two published reports in the New Yorker revealed allegations of sexual harassment. Now, the New York Times has published a piece offering additional insights into the situation and members of the soap opera community are involved!

The New York Times article delved into the relationship between Moonves and talent manager Marv Dauer, who has repped on and off many familiar actors in the daytime world including Hunter Tylo (Taylor, The Bold and the Beautiful), Eva La Rue (ex-Maria, All My Children) and Joshua Morrow (Nicholas, The Young and the Restless).

According to the Times piece, Dauer also represented actress Bobbie Phillips, whom veteran viewers of The Bold and the Beautiful recall as Rhonda, a young woman who briefly dated Ridge (then Ronn Moss) after Taylor was presumed dead in 1994.

The Times reported that Dauer arranged for Phillips to meet with Moonves on March 7, 1995, when Moonves was working as the president of Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind such hits including Friends and E.R.

Also in the Times report: Phillips recalls Moonves sexually assaulting her in his office. In response, Moonves said: “I strongly believe that the sexual encounter with Ms. Phillips more than 20 years ago was consensual.”

Phillips told Dauer that her meeting with Moonves had gone, “Not very well. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Eventually, Phillips left the business, got married (twice), and had a son who committed suicide in 2012. She ended up moving to Canada.

Last year, the Times contacted Dauer to talk about allegations related to Moonves. Around this time, Dauer and Phillips reconnected as she was interested in getting back into the business.

Dauer reached out to Moonves to see if he could help Phillips get an acting job. Soon, according to the Times, CBS’ casting chief, Peter Golden, contacted Dauer about potential parts for Phillips. Other Dauer clients including LaRue, Morrow, and Philip Boyd (The Haves and the Have Nots) also met with Moonves.

Moonves attended Dauer’s 75th birthday party earlier this year. LaRue, who was a regular on CSI: Miami, recalls Moonves telling her that it’d been too long since she’d worked for CBS.

The Times report went on to say that once the CBS board learned that Moonves had tried to find work for one of his accusers (Phillips), it held an emergency meeting with attorneys to discuss Moonves and Dauer’s relationship. Soon after, Moonves stepped down from CBS.

Dauer denied to the Times ever trying to blackmail Moonves — his silence in exchange for acting roles for his clients.

“Yes, I did try to get my clients parts,” Dauer said. “That’s my job. That’s what managers do.”