Les Moonves had a ‘mood dial’ that flashed red when he was angry: Report

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Angerer/Getty Images

• Former CBS CEO Les Moonves, who left the company after
  new allegations of sexual misconduct emerged this week, had a
  “reputation for a hair-trigger temper,” according to The Wall
  Street Journal.
• Moonves’ former assistant had an office “mood dial”
  that turned bright red when he was angry as a warning to
  potential visitors to come back another day.
• His temper made him “most vengeful vindictive man in a
  vengeful vindictive town,” according to a former CBS
  programming executive.

Former CBS CEO Les Moonves left the company this week
after six new allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against
him in a second bombshell report from The New
Yorker. Six women accused the
executive of sexual assault or harassment, adding to the
allegations that surfaced in a previous New Yorker story in
July, which kickstarted a CBS investigation.

As Moonves’ alleged sexual misconduct comes to light, more
details about his past and temperament have also been uncovered.
According to The Wall Street Journal,
Moonves had “a reputation for a hair-trigger temper” and
his longtime executive assistant, Suzanne Fickinger, made an
office “mood dial” that turned bright red when Moonves was in a
foul mood as a warning to potential visitors not to disturb
him. 

“If it was on bright red, you probably want to come back
another day,” an anonymous former CBS executive told the
WSJ.

Moonves was also known for holding grudges. For instance, Moonves
told former CBS programming executive Andy Hill that
he “wouldn’t work in Hollywood again” after the two
had a falling out, Hill told WSJ. It wasn’t an
empty threat. According to Hill, Moonves told the head of a
studio Hill was up for a job at that if he hired Hill, CBS
wouldn’t do business with that studio again.

“He is the most vengeful vindictive man in a vengeful
vindictive town,” Hill said.