CBS reportedly paid a multi-million dollar settlement in 2019 to someone who accused disgraced CEO Les Moonves of sexual misconduct, claiming their confidentiality was violated when a draft investigation report was leaked to the New York Times, according to a report from Vanity Fair.

Moonves left CBS in September 2018, following multiple reports and allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment, or assault. A report conducted by two law firms hired by CBS, Debevoise & Plimpton and Covington & Burling, was reportedly going to be used to deny Moonves the severance he claimed he was owed under his contract.

“Now we’ve learned there was also another legal matter arising out of the leak of the draft report, which was an indisputable violation of the witnesses’ expectation of privacy,” Vanity Fair reported.

In December 2018, the New York Times reported on a draft report on the investigation into Moonves that had been leaked to the Times. The story included the names of three women whose stories were included in the draft report.

CBS subsequently reached a settlement with someone who claimed a breach of confidentiality, according to Vanity Fair, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the situation. The settlement was reportedly reached in 2019, and was believed to be in the “low eight figures.”

Two sources told Vanity Fair that they believe the recipient of the settlement money was actress Bobbie Phillips, who reportedly claimed that Moonves forced her to perform oral sex in 1995, then had CBS offer her an acting job in exchange for her silence.

CBS ultimately denied Moonves what was believed to be a nine-figure severance, finding that he violated company policies and did not cooperate with the investigation into the allegations against him.

The Vanity Fair story also said that a separate investigation was launched after the leak of the draft, and it is believed that an associate at Covington, one of the firms hired by CBS to investigate the claims against Moonves, leaked the draft to the Times.

When asked for a response to the Vanity Fair report, a ViacomCBS spokesperson declined to comment. Covington & Burling did not respond to Mediaite’s request for comment.

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