Les Moonves

Leslie Roy Moonves served as Chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation from 2003 to 2018, making him one of the most influential executives in American television. He is listed in Jeffrey Epstein's black book with four phone numbers, indicating established contact channels. Moonves appears in the case files primarily through social overlap and Epstein's private correspondence.

A March 15, 2005 Wall Street Rising charity event in Manhattan, featuring singer Rod Stewart, placed Moonves and his wife Julie Chen at the same gathering as Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, alongside other prominent figures including Sean Lennon and Padma Lakshmi. This event occurred on the same day that Palm Beach police launched their undercover investigation into Epstein. Epstein discussed Moonves in private emails on multiple occasions.

In a December 19, 2017 exchange with New York Times financial reporter Landon Thomas Jr. about harassment allegations against powerful figures, Epstein volunteered the name "les moonves" alongside other prominent individuals. On July 27, 2018, Epstein emailed Soon-Yi Previn stating "les moonves is toast," commenting on the sexual misconduct allegations that were about to become public. In a December 4, 2018 email, journalist Michael Wolff told Epstein that "Moonves' guy" suggested using attorney Hiltzig, within a broader discussion about Epstein's own legal strategy and settlement funds.

Moonves also appears in several editions of publicist Peggy Siegal's Oscar diary, which were forwarded to Epstein by his assistant Stephanie. These entries document Moonves attending Hollywood industry events during the awards season circuit alongside other media executives. In September 2018, Moonves resigned from CBS after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment and assault spanning decades.

CBS withheld $120 million in severance after an internal investigation found policy violations. These allegations were unrelated to the Epstein case. Moonves does not appear in available flight logs for Epstein's aircraft, and no accusations connecting him to Epstein's criminal conduct have been made publicly.