US broadcasting and media company CBS Corp. said it was investigating claims of personal misconduct by its chief executive Leslie Moonves which was published in a New Yorker magazine article. The allegations against Moonves surfaced as he is locked in a legal battle over control of CBS with the company’s largest shareholder, National Amusements Inc, owned by Shari Redstone and her father Sumner who also control media company Viacom. The New Yorker report featured claims against Moonves from six women spanning different time periods over two decades, from 1985 to 2006. The allegations included sexual assault and unwanted advances. Moonves regretted his minor advances with females earlier but has denied any misuse of his position by any means. One of the women in the story was identified as actress Illeana Douglas. Douglas’ publicist Danny Deraney confirmed her comments in the story. According to the New Yorker, 30 current and former CBS employees described harassment, gender discrimination, or retaliation for refusing sexual advances at the company.CBS said in a statement that it takes each report of misconduct very seriously but it does not believe “the picture of the company created in The New Yorker represents a larger organization that does its best to treat its tens of thousands of employees with dignity and respect.  CBS also said in a statement that its board would promptly review the findings and take appropriate action.

Moonves, 68, joined CBS in 1995 as president of CBS Entertainment and has been CEO since 2006. He is widely credited with turning CBS into one of the top-performing US media companies. Moonves clashed with Shari Redstone earlier this year over her bid to merge CBS with Viacom Inc, also owned by National Amusements. Moonves resisted that deal because he believed CBS’s prospects were better without taking on Viacom’s turnaround challenges. A CBS board committee in May turned down the potential merger with Viacom and sued to strip National Amusements of its control of CBS.

Redstone is challenging a plan by CBS to issue a special dividend aimed at cutting National Amusements’ voting power in the company to 17 percent from 80 percent. The trial in a Delaware court is expected to start in October. Before the story was published, a spokeswoman for National Amusements Inc. said that Redstone hopes that the investigation of these allegations is thorough, open and transparent. The spokeswoman declined to comment further. Viacom also declined to comment. Combining CBS, which owns cable networks including Showtime as well as the CBS TV Network and CBS TV Studios, with Viacom, whose businesses include Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and MTV, would have more negotiating leverage with cable and satellite companies, analysts said