Cybill Shepherd Says Cybill Ended Because She Refused Les Moonves's Sexual Advances

Cybill Shepherd, in an interview scheduled to air on SiriusXM’s The Michelle Collins Show today, said her sitcom Cybill would’ve “run another five years,” if she hadn’t refused advances from CBS executive Les Moonves, Deadline reports.

“I didn’t, I didn’t—wasn’t gonna fall at all for Les,” she said, revealing that a few seasons into Cybill, she met Moonves for dinner and he used the meal as an opportunity to come on to her:

“We went to it, and he was, well, he was telling me his wife didn’t turn him on, some mistress didn’t turn him on. And I’m watching him drink alcohol, and I’m going, he says, well, you know, ‘Why don’t you let me take you home?’ I said, ‘No, I’ve got a ride,’ and I had my car outside with a good friend of mine who is an off-duty LAPD officer.”

She also described certain consequences the show faced “quite shortly” after she declined Moonves, “a brilliant man who was acting stupid”:

“We did a lot of jokes. It’s just funny to see somebody who’s, quote, ‘pretty,’ you know, talking with some food in their mouth, not overdoing it. It’s just funny. And then I got that note: ‘Don’t do that anymore. Don’t have Cybill talk while she’s eating.’ Then it was, OK, we had done one menopause episode, then we were going to do a second one. They said you can’t use menses, menstruation, or period.”

Moonves is currently negotiating his severance from CBS (last reported to be in the $120 million range) since resigning in September after 12 women accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Last week, the New York Times reported that Moonves destroyed evidence during CBS’ investigation into the allegations against him.

When asked if she felt “vindicated” by Moonves’ current situation, Shepherd responded, “His crimes, yeah. Yeah, it was, it was very painful.”