The Latest: New Yorker writer says women feared retaliation

The Latest on CBS investigation into personal misconduct claims after a New Yorker article detailed sexual harassment allegations against its CEO, Les Moonves (all times local):

7:20 p.m.

New Yorker writer Ronan Farrow says six women who accuse CBS Corp.'s chief executive officer Les Moonves of sexual misconduct had to overcome their fears of retaliation in order to tell their stories.

Farrow says he spent eight months investigating the story published in the New Yorker on Friday.

Six women who had professional dealings with Moonves say he sexually harassed them between the 1980s and late 2000s. Four of them described forcible touching or kissing during business meetings.

Farrow told The Associated Press that the story is "an opportunity to look at how our most important corporate institutions treat vulnerable people coming forward with these kinds of charges."

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6 p.m.

The New Yorker is reporting that six women who had professional dealings with the CEO of CBS, Les Moonves, say he sexually harassed them between the 1980s and late 2000s.

The article says that four of the women described forcible touching or kissing during business meetings. It says two said that Moonves physically intimidated them or threatened to derail their careers.

The article is written by Ronan Farrow, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning story for the same magazine uncovering many of the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein

Moonves acknowledges to the New Yorker that were times decades ago when he may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. But he says, "Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely."

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4:20 p.m.

CBS says independent members of its board of directors are investigating personal misconduct claims after reports that the company's chief executive, Les Moonves, is the subject of an upcoming New Yorker story detailing sexual misconduct allegations.

The media company says it takes all allegations of personal misconduct seriously. It says the independent directors are "investigating claims that violate the company's clear policies in that regard."

CBS did not name Moonves but said it issued the statement Friday in response to the upcoming New Yorker article.

Shares in CBS tumbled when the reports of the misconduct allegations began to circulate around noon Friday, as investors worried that Moonves might be forced to step down. They closed down 6 percent, the company's worst one-day loss in more than six years.