Social Media Celebrates Janet Jackson As CBS Denies Les Moonves' Severance Payout

People on social media are lauding Janet Jackson and her artistic contributions as reports revealed that Les Moonves, the former CEO and chairman of CBS, will not receive a $120 million severance payout from the company.

Moonves stepped down from the company in September after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment or assault. This week the network announced that he would not receive “any severance payment ” after an investigation into the misconduct allegations. 

In light of the news, people on Twitter have called attention to the accusations against Moonves and reports that he allegedly targeted Jackson for years after her and Justin Timberlake’s 2004 Super Bowl performance, in which the infamous “wardrobe malfunction ” occurred. 

The performance ended with Timberlake ripping off a piece of Jackson’s costume, which left her breast exposed on live television. Both performers said the incident was unintended, but she has notably and publicly borne the brunt of the blame . 

As HuffPost reported this year, Moonves has been accused of essentially working to blacklist Jackson since that halftime performance debacle  and the FCC fine and torrent of criticism against CBS that followed.

Sources told HuffPost in September that Moonves was behind an order that Viacom-owned radio stations and other properties stop playing her songs and music videos. (CBS and Viacom announced they split into separate companies in 2006.) 

Since the misconduct allegations against Moonves were made public, a number of articles  and tweets have called attention to his alleged years-long fixation and grudge against Jackson, who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame  next year.  

The praise and acknowledgment for Jackson continued this week: