Cybill Shepherd Says Les Moonves Canceled ‘Cybill’ Because She “Didn’t Fall” For His Sexual Advances

Cybill Shepherd is breaking her silence on former CBS exec Les Moonves. In a new interview with SiriusXM, Shepherd revealed that, like so many actresses, writers, and producers, she was also propositioned by Moonves, and she claimed that her sitcom was abruptly canceled after she turned him down. Had she gone home with him, Shepherd said, Cybill “would have run for another five years.” Moonves has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by numerous women (he denies the allegations), and in September, he resigned from CBS’ board.

According to Shepherd, she and Moonves went to dinner while Cybill was airing on CBS (it ran from 1995 to 1998), and he made a pass at her. “He was telling me his wife didn’t turn him on, some mistress didn’t turn him on,” Shepherd told SiriusXM’s Michelle Collins. “And he says, ‘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 was an off-duty LAPD officer.” Shepherd said that she began getting notes about what the show could and could not say, and “quite shortly afterward,” Cybill was canceled altogether.

Shepherd went on to say that Moonves’ behavior was “incredibly stupid.” Cybill should have continued, but because she denied Moonves’ advances, the “brilliant” writers, directors, and actors were out of a job. “My show could have run another five years, but I didn’t fall on the right side of Les Moonves,” she said. “I wasn’t going to fall at all for Les.”

Listen to Shepherd’s SiriusXM interview here.

Where to stream Cybill