CBS' Biggest Scandals Ever

The following article includes allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and workplace misconduct.

Still one of just a handful of national, advertiser-supported, over-the-air free broadcast channels in the United States, the Columbia Broadcasting System — or CBS — began as a radio network in 1929, before giving pictures with sound a very successful try in the 1940s, per The Saturday Evening Post. In its early years, CBS promoted itself as a destination for all kinds of entertainment, from serialized dramas (or "soap operas") in the daytime to a variety of programs in the evening, plus a separate news division — earning the company the fancy nickname, "The Tiffany Network."

Over the years, CBS has aired some of the most popular and enduring works of television, including "I Love Lucy," "M*A*S*H," "Magnum, P.I.," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The Big Bang Theory," the "NCIS" franchise, and "The Late Show." But when one broadcaster hires so many people and creates so much product, it's bound to generate or attract controversy. Here are all of the most salacious, embarrassing, and alarming scandals in the long history of CBS.

In 1979, the sitcom "House Calls" hit CBS, boasting major star power. A romantic comedy about suave Dr. Charley Michaels and sophisticated hospital administrator Ann Atkinson, who don't want to fall in love but then totally do, starred ex-"M*A*S*H" cast member Wayne Rogers and Academy Award nominee Lynn Redgrave. The burgeoning romance between Charley and Ann came to an abrupt end at the beginning of the show's third season in 1981. Anne was gone, her absence was explained in a letter Charley reads out loud — she'd decided to move back home to England.

The real reason for Ann's departure was because Redgrave left the show after two seasons following prolonged tension with Universal Television, the company that produced "House Calls." Universal told People that it had let Redgrave out of her contract after she had asked for a doubling of per-episode salary (from $16,250 to $35,000, far less than what Rogers received) and rejected a handsome counter-offer. 

But according to John Clark, Redgrave's husband and manager, the studio just didn't want to deal with Redgrave's demands: She'd just given birth to a baby and wanted to have her on-set to keep up with a breastfeeding schedule, and for the studio to provide a place for that to happen, as well as a driver and nurse on the premises. Universal said no, so Redgrave walked.

"60 Minutes" has exposed and reported on a lot of business scandals in its more than 50 years on the air, but one was so dramatic that it was made into a movie. "The Inside," a 1999 Academy Award nominee for best picture, told the tale of one of the most controversial ordeals in "60 Minutes" history.

In 1995, "60 Minutes" interviewed Jeffrey Wigand, who reported that he'd been fired from his job as a researcher at tobacco company Brown & Williamson after helping to develop a healthier cigarette. According to PBS, multiple tobacco company executives testified to Congress that the nicotine found in cigarettes is non-addictive, but Wigand refuted the idea that Big Tobacco believes that, alleging that Brown & Williamson had long known — in part because of his research — that smoking was very harmful to human health, and also that they'd suppressed that data.

All this got "60 Minutes" into hot water, because when Wigand had departed Brown & Williamson, he'd signed a non-disclosure agreement. Expecting a hefty and legally-justified lawsuit from the tobacco company, executives at CBS ordered "60 Minutes" producers to not air the Wigand interview. It would take The Wall Street Journal uncovering this cover-up of a story about a cover-up in January 1996 to get the information to the public, prompting "60 Minutes" to air the Wigand story a week later.

Charles Kuralt was one of CBS News' most decorated journalists, covering the Vietnam War, serving as a Latin American correspondent, and hosting "CBS News Sunday Morning" over a four-decade career. But what really made Kuralt special, according to The New York Times, was "On the Road," a recurring series of reports and meditations on hidden and underreported gems of the United States, as well as interesting, regular people. Kuralt visited all 50 states, driving around in an RV to find and file his noble human interest stories.

Kuralt died in 1997, but the following year, the world found out about what else Kuralt was up to while on the road. While married to Suzanne "Petie" Kuralt, Charles Kuralt had kept up a secret, parallel, long-term relationship with a woman named Pat Shannon (whom he'd met while making "On the Road") for 29 years, according to The Washington Post. They'd celebrated holidays together and gone on trips together. Kuralt helped finance Shannon's life, writing her checks that amounted to more than $500,000 over the years and helping put her children through college. 

After Kuralt's death, his former wife and his other partner contested the newsman's will in court, fighting over a chunk of his Montana property.

Eliza Dushku, a veteran of beloved 2000s cult TV shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Tru Calling," and "Dollhouse," made a return to major network television in March 2017, according to The New York Times, inking a deal to appear in three episodes of CBS' first-season hit legal drama "Bull." Producer and writer Glenn Gordon Caron assured Dushku that her character, J.P. Nunnelly, would be more than just a romantic partner for Michael Weatherly's Jason Bull, with tentative plans to have the actor join the regular cast.

Then, one day on set, with many members of the cast and crew present, Weatherly allegedly made some comments about Dushku's appearance, and followed those up with a joke about sexual assault and a suggestive comment about a sexual act. Later on, Dushku approached Weatherly to tell him that she didn't approve or condone his earlier behavior. And then, she alleged, she was abruptly written off "Bull."

For this combination of alleged sexual harassment and wrongful termination, Dushku filed suit against CBS. The parties employed mediation and reached a confidential agreement, in which the network would pay the actor $9.5 million, which is what Dushku would have earned had she been made a full-time "Bull" cast member and stayed on the show for four years.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

In September 2004, according to The Baltimore Sun, the Wednesday edition of "60 Minutes" aired a bombshell of a story. The presidential election was just weeks away, and "60 Minutes" presented documents which allegedly revealed that George W. Bush, seeking a second term as president, had been suspended from service and declared unfit for duty while in the employ of the Texas Air National Guard decades earlier.

Journalist Mary Mapes, reportedly a thorough and widely respected journalist, produced the segment, having received the documents from a retired Texas Air National Guard officer, who had obtained them from another officer — who, in turn, received them from Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, the alleged author of the documents who had died in 1984. It would turn out that Mapes had failed to properly vet or authenticate the documents, which were riddled with incorrect abbreviations and used a typeface almost nonexistent in the 1960s. As the news of more flaws in the documents spread, "60 Minutes" stood by the report for two weeks before finally recanting.

In the wake of the major reporting snafu, CBS hired an independent news watchdog panel, which found that in speeding to scoop other news outlets on the affair, CBS News employees had not done their due diligence. Four executives and senior producers, including Mapes, were ultimately fired by the organization.

"The Price is Right" is a stalwart of daytime television, with very excited audience members asked to "come on down" to Contestants Row and maybe win a new car or a cruise in the Showcase Showdown since 1972. Bob Barker became an institution for hosting "The Price is Right" from its daytime inception until his retirement in 2007, always gently encouraging contestants to win big.

But behind his daily, well-meaning suggestion to viewers to spay and neuter their pets, Barker might not have been such a good guy. In 1994, longtime "Price is Right" product model Dian Parkinson filed an $8 million lawsuit against Barker, according to Time. Parkinson alleged that Barker made her have sex with him or else lose her job on the show, and then she was fired anyway. Barker at first denied everything, then said he'd had a sexual relationship with Parkinson, but that it was a consensual affair. A judge threw out the wrongful termination element of the suit, but allowed the harassment charge to proceed, although Parkinson eventually dropped the whole thing over the severe stress it caused and a lack of money to pay legal fees.

Another "Price is Right" model, Holly Hallstrom, sued Barker and the production in 1995, claiming that she'd been fired for gaining weight and for refusing to disparage Parkinson in interviews. Barker countersued for slander, but a court ruled in Hallstrom's favor.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

After working for TV production companies, Les Moonves came to CBS in 1995, where he would hold various executive positions, including president of CBS Entertainment and chairman and CEO of CBS Corp. He guided the network to primetime dominance and was one of the most powerful men in television — and certainly no one wielded more control at CBS than did Moonves. But even major TV executives weren't protected when the #MeToo movement emerged to root out people in the entertainment industry who had allegedly abused their power or used sex as a weapon. 

Moonves even advanced #MeToo — according to The New Yorker, he co-founded the Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace in 2017. But around that time, six former colleagues of Moonves' told investigative journalist Ronan Farrow that Moonves had allegedly made untoward advances at them, including unwanted kissing and aggressive touching. "What happened to me was a sexual assault, and then I was fired for not participating," actor Illeana Douglas alleged. Writer Janet Jones claimed that Moonves forced her to kiss him at a meeting. In all, 30 former or current CBS employees admitted to witnessing or having knowledge of Moonves' actions.

In September 2018, CNN reported that Moonves would leave the company. He later sued CBS after it refused to pay out what he claimed was a $120 million severance package, per The New York Times. The suit was settled in May 2021.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).