Stephen Colbert on Les Moonves sexual harassment allegations: "Accountability is for everybody"

The Daily Beast

In separate segments on his show Monday night, The Late Show host addressed the allegations of sexual misconduct against his boss, which "stood in sharp relief" from the way his wife and CBS host Julie Chen reacted to the news, said Matt Wilstein. Colbert joked in his monologue that he didn't know why CBS was hiring outside investigators to probe the allegations against Moonves. "They could just use the cast of the new CBS procedural, CSI: CEO,” thie host quipped. After his first commercial break, Colbert's comments turned serious. "I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do believe in accountability, and not just for politicians you disagree with,” Colbert said. “Everybody believes in accountability until it’s their guy, and, make no mistake, Les Moonves is my guy. He hired me to sit in this chair,” he added. “He stood behind this show while we were finding our voice. He gave us the time and the resources to succeed. He has stood by us when people were mad at me, and I like working for him. But accountability is meaningless unless it’s for everybody, whether it’s for the leader of a network or the leader of the free world.”