Lesley Stahl asked '60 Minutes' applicant Alexandra Poolos if she would 'use her body to get stories': lawsuit

https://nypost.com/2023/10/11/lesley-stahl-of-60-minutes-alexandra-poolos-
if-shed-use-her-body-for-stories-suit/

A bombshell lawsuit claims that CBS’ “60 Minutes” has long been a cesspool 
of sex harassment — including allegations that star correspondent Lesley 
Stahl once asked a female job applicant whether she would be willing to 
“use her body to secure stories.”

Alexandra Poolos, who worked as a producer for more than 10 years at the 
prestigious TV news program before she was fired in February last year, 
filed suit against CBS and its corporate parent, Paramount, in Manhattan 
federal court on Tuesday, alleging rampant “misogyny” at the Tiffany 
Network.

Among her explosive claims: In 2011, Poolos was interviewed for a job at 
“60 Minutes” by Stahl, who allegedly inquired whether she would be willing 
to “use her body to secure stories,” according to the lawsuit.

The suit didn’t elaborate on the allegation.

“Poolos has never heard a [60 Minutes] Correspondent suggest that a man 
use his body to get a story,” the lawsuit stated.

A CBS spokesperson said, “We are not commenting on pending litigation.”

Stahl didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Poolos alleged in her lawsuit that she “was not spared from the toxic 
environment against women that has long plagued the network,” and that her 
former supervisor, producer Shachar Bar-On, “repeatedly subjected Poolos 
to emotional abuse and sexual harassment over the course of several 
years.”

That included allegations that Bar-On “made derogatory comments about the 
physical appearance of other women” including Stahl — adding that he 
“regularly mocked Stahl’s face and body and referred to her as 
‘disgusting,'” according to the complaint.

The suit also cited the firing of former “60 Minutes” showrunner Jeff 
Fager, who was dismissed in 2018 over sexual misconduct claims leveled 
against him.

According to the suit, Bar-On’s behavior was no secret in the newsroom — 
including to Bill Owens, Fager’s successor as executive producer of “60 
Minutes,” who allegedly told Poolos that he “had had his own experiences 
with Bar-On’s ‘temper’ and believed Bar-On had a mood disorder.”

Owens is also alleged to have told Poolos that she “could transfer to 
another team, but that she would be unable to continue working with Stahl 
as an Associated Producer.”

Owens then “placed the burden” on her by informing her that she “needed to 
tell Stahl directly that she wanted to transfer due to Bar-On’s behavior,” 
according to the complaint.

The complaint alleged that Fager was also aware of Bar-On’s alleged 
reputation.

After Poolos screened her first solo-produced story in 2013, Fager 
“commented that she must feel good to be ‘unhooked’ from Bar-On, alluding 
to his abusive behavior,” according to the complaint.

Likewise, Stahl is also alleged to have once told Poolos that she 
“respected” her for “not having formally complained about” Bar-On and 
“instead, had ‘focus[ed] on [her] work.”

That’s despite years of alleged harassment of Poolos by Bar-On, who was 
her manager between 2011 and 2017.

According to the suit, Bar-On told Poolos “he had been watching 
pornography on his work computer one night and was extremely anxious the 
next morning because Stahl asked to use his laptop at the airport, and he 
was unsure if he had closed the window with the pornography.”

On another occasion, Bar-On is alleged to have once referred to Stahl as a 
“see you next Tuesday” — a “euphemism” for a sexist slur.

In addition to her own allegations, Poolos called out the $30.5 million 
that CBS and ex-CEO Leslie Moonves paid out last year in a settlement with 
New York Attorney General Letitia James over the network covering up 
multiple sexual assault allegations against the former executive.

Poolos alleged that she complained about Bar-On’s behavior to a senior 
producer, but that nobody at the company ever bothered to investigate, 
according to the documents.

Poolos alleged that CBS “retaliated” against her “even after her firing” 
in February last year, according to the complaint.

After Poolos notified CBS of “her intent to pursue legal claims against 
the company,” the network “solicited negative information about Poolos 
from colleagues both within and outside of the company in an attempt to 
undermine her well-documented success and good reputation within her 
industry.”

Bar-On and another producer, Keith Sharman, once “joked in front of Poolos 
in Bar-On’s office about actress Natalie Portman and her ‘little’ body 
parts, plainly referencing her breasts,” according to the complaint.

Bar-On, who is still employed as a producer at “60 Minutes,” referred an 
inquiry about the allegations to CBS. Sharman, Fager and Owens couldn’t 
immediately be reached.

It was also alleged in the complaint that an “intoxicated” Bar-On “hit on 
Poolos” and “pressured her to come to his hotel room” while the two were 
on a work trip to Italy.

Bar-On is alleged to have “regularly commented about Poolos’ body and 
weight” — even “encouraging” her to “stay” at “certain weights” while 
“telling her which clothes accentuated her body,” according to the 
complaint.

At a 2016 Emmy Awards ceremony, Bar-On allegedly “commented on Poolos’ 
dress and its fit and told Poolos that her shoes made her legs look good,” 
the complaint stated.

In March 2016, Poolos, who at the time had recently announced her 
pregnancy, was allegedly told by Bar-On that she “needed to make a major 
change if she had the baby, including quitting her job at 60 Minutes,” it 
was alleged in the complaint.

In August 2016, a male employee asked Bar-On to borrow a copy of Vanity 
Fair magazine, which featured an image of actress Margot Robbie.

Bar-On is alleged to have told the employee that he could borrow the 
magazine so long as he didn’t return it with “sticky” pages, according to 
the complaint.


-- 
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
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No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.  
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden 
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Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
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queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed 
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.