Kathy Griffin just made Les Moonves’ night (even) worse. The comedian shredded the now-former CBS CEO and his wife Julie Chen (“The Talk,” “Big Brother”) in a lengthy Twitter rant on Sunday, which kicked off minutes before Moonves officially exited the publicly traded corporation.
Among her accusations, Griffin says she was interested in replacing Craig Ferguson on CBS’ “The Late Late Show,” but was told by her agents at the time that Moonves “wasn’t going to consider any women for the spot.”
Griffin’s beef with Chen appears to come mostly from stories the former “My Life on the D-List” personality has heard secondhand. She also believes Chen may have helped her husband attempt to bury Janet Jackson’s career following the singer’s infamous wardrobe malfunction on a CBS-broadcast Super Bowl, which has been written about.
Wait until you see the expletive-filled direct message Griffin says she sent Chen the other day.
Yes, Griffin also got into that whole decapitated-Trump photoshoot thing and the weird email she says she received from a CBS board member in the aftermath. Patience.
Below is Griffin’s story in its entirety. Griffin says she wanted to share it in order to show another side of Moonves’ “misconduct.”
TheWrap reached out to CBS corporate and reps for Chen and Griffin for comment on this story. We did not immediately hear back from any of the parties.
A) I have a story to tell and it's related to the whole Les Moonves situation. Normally, I hate when women are blamed for their husband's misconduct…it happens all the time. And after the first allegations against Leslie were revealed, I hoped his wife wouldn't face blowback.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
B) Julie Chen has always been nice to me and I had no reason to believe that she knew about her husband assaulting women before they got married. So I reached out to her and told her I would love to come on her show and I didn't need to make it about her husband/CBS
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
C) She never got back to me…but I figured she was just swamped with the scandal and didn't think anything of it. Then, several days ago I learned of how Julie has treated people from folks that I know personally.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
D) @yashar's story about Janet Jackson having her career ruined by Leslie reminded me so much of what women faced in this business from powerful men who were offended that the women didn't kiss their ring. https://t.co/DjQyZqhzjD
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
E) And then this clip of Julie speaking so smugly about Janet Jackson in 2017 really set me off. Julie knew her husband helped to destroy Janet's career and this is how she speaks? https://t.co/peruGy3AZz
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
F) After the conversations I had earlier this week, I sent this message to Julie Chen last Thursday. Make no mistake, Leslie still has a ton of power and I'm going to pay for this dearly. And that's what he and his cohorts in this town do to women in the business. pic.twitter.com/gGdbMw3vym
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
G) I feel like my career is finally headed towards a good place again, but by tweeting all this I am risking being blacklisted further. But I can't stay quiet about the kind of shit that goes down in this industry.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
H) I did this long thread last week about the kind of abuse that goes down in this industry that doesn't directly involve sexual misconduct. I hope you'll read it if you haven't already. https://t.co/jf9y87NJlt
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
I) In early 2014 I asked my then agents (different agency from where I'm at now) if I could having a meeting at CBS about replacing Craig Ferguson. (to be clear this isn't a ding at James Corden, I like him).
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
J) My agents told me that Leslie wasn't going to consider any women for the spot. Yes, they met with a few women, but they weren't actually going to hire a woman is what I was told. Welcome to reality!
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
K) Since Joan Rivers show ended in 1987, only one woman has had a show on a network (NOT CABLE) and that was @iamwandasykes in 2009-2010. In 31 years only one woman has been given a shot and that was not one of the majors (ABC, CBS, NBC). Leslie perpetuated that culture.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
L) So Les Moonves is heading out of CBS…will anything change? Nope. People still remain silent and women are still blacklisted every day. I can promise you if I asked any number of people I know who are in entertainment and successful to speak out about Leslie they wouldn't!
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
M) And again there are so many areas of concern in this business that don't have to do with sexual misconduct. After the Trump photo I got this insanely inappropriate email from a CBS board member I have known named Arnie Kopelson. pic.twitter.com/zk1ATLx3zE
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
N) This letter was published in August of 2017 and CBS refused to comment to @yashar when he asked them about the email for this profile he did of me. Seriously read the email, it's just insane what men get away with in this business. https://t.co/xbgOQmk9IB pic.twitter.com/3TY0kPAODQ
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
O) I have saved so much of the money I've made in my career for this very reason, so I can have the financial freedom to speak out against powerful people. Do I enjoy getting blacklisted and missing out on opportunities? No..I'd rather be working…
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
P) But this is the responsibility that comes with privilege. I really hope my women colleagues who financially secure will join me in speaking out against women like Julie and the indignities imposed on his by men in this business. It's not going to change until we start talking.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 9, 2018
Q) I want to tell everyone about my amazing lawyer Bill Sobel….Bill spoke to Ronan Farrow, on record, for his first story. Bill is also @Illeanarama's lawyer. At the time he spoke to Ronan, Bill had no idea if Les was going to keep his job. I'm so proud to have him on my side. pic.twitter.com/e0djJ6YOmA
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) September 10, 2018
Moonves’ exit from CBS comes two months after Ronan Farrow’s bombshell report in the New Yorker, in which six women accused the longtime media mogul of sexual harassment. On Sunday, a new report from Farrow in The New Yorker outlined accusations of sexual assault and harassment from six additional women.
Two investigations into the accusations are still underway, and any potential Moonves severance pay is pending the results. COO Joe Ianniello will take on Moonves’ chief executive role on an interim basis.
Moonves joined CBS Corporation from Warner Bros. in 1995, when he was named president of CBS Entertainment. He became chairman in 2003 and was named CEO in 2006, following the split of CBS and Viacom.