Ross said that the CBS ad sales team is continuing to conduct business as usualMARC BRYAN-BROWN
JO ANN ROSS, CBS’ top ad sales exec, said she is “sad and troubled” by the sexual harassment charges against former network CEO LES MOONVES, someone she publicly has supported and described as a mentor in the past. Speaking at the SBJ Game Changers conference in N.Y. this morning, Ross said she is “grappling with how a person could be one way with someone and be totally different with someone else.” Ross said she never experienced the kind of sexual harassment six women described, which led Moonves to step down. “It’s hard for me,” said Ross, whose official title is CBS President & Chief Advertising Revenue Officer. “That’s not what I experienced. It doesn’t lessen what’s going on or the pain of these women. … I’m very sad, I’m very troubled by the situation. The women who came out, they spoke about what was, for them, humiliating and painful. They are very, very brave and their voices need to be heard.” Ross has worked at CBS for 26 years. She said the ad sales team is conducting business as usual. In fact, they went through with client meetings Monday morning as the Moonves news was erupting. One client expressed surprise that Ross did not cancel their meeting. “We didn’t, and it never occurred to me,” Ross said in the interview moderated by SBJ’s John Ourand, “Life goes on. ... We have obligations.”
