CBS to donate $20M to women’s groups after Moonves ouster

Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund and Time’s Up Entertainment are among the 18 recipients of a $20 million donation from CBS Corporation, an amount determined when Leslie Moonves was pushed out as CEO over sexual misconduct allegations, according to a press release issued Friday. The money was earmarked for groups focused on “eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace.”

The funds will be distributed within 60 days of execution of the agreement, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. The amount each group will receive was based on their proposal and “capacity to absorb funds relative to their annual budgets.”

When Moonves exited in September, CBS said the $20 million would come out of Moonves’ potential severance package of $140 million. That still leaves a possible $120 million for Moonves, unless he is found to have been terminated for cause. The CBS board has until January 31 to determine whether it will make the payment.

While Moonves was not involved in selecting the groups, his attorney had to approve the decision, according to a second person familiar with the process. Rally, an issue-driven communications firm, worked with CBS management to select the groups that fell within three buckets: pipeline and leadership development; training, education and culture change; and victim’s support, according to an internal memo from Laurie Rosenfield, CBS’s recently appointed chief people officer.

Here is a full list of the recipients:

Pipeline and Leadership Development

• Catalyst
• Free the BidInternational Women’s Media Foundation
• STRIVE International
• Sundance Institute’s Momentum program
• TIME’S UP Entertainment
• Women in Film Los AngelesWomen’s Media Center

Training, Education and Culture Change

• Collaborative Fund for Women’s Safety and Dignity (through Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors)
• Freedom Forum Institute – Power Shift Project
• Futures Without Violence
• National Women’s Law CenterNew York Women’s Foundation
• Press ForwardProducers Guild of America Foundation

Victim’s Support

• Girls for Gender Equity / The ‘me too.’ Movement
• RAINN
• TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund