Cory Palka, an ex-Hollywood cop who became a TV star himself, is now embroiled in a real-life scandal following the accusation that he helped cover up sexual assault allegations leveled at former CBS executive Les Moonves.
Palka was so tight with Tinsel Town’s celebrities that the former Captain of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Division even got a bit part as himself on the cop drama Bosch. But Palka’s ties to higher-ups in the entertainment industry were put under a microscope Thursday after “prosecutors said he leaked a sexual assault victim’s confidential police report to the accused,” the Associated Press reported. Moonves, who was the subject of the sexual assault accusations, formerly employed Palka as a private bodyguard for years on end.
As part of a settlement that was handed down by New York Attorney General Letitia James, CBS and Moonves agreed to pay a sum of $30.5 million, with $6 million going to “sexual assault and harassment programs,” according to the report. There is an element of insider trading to all of this since “at least one” executive “unloaded shares before news broke” despite shareholders being kept in the dark while the higher-ups at CBS tried to halt the allegations from coming to light, the AP report said. The remainder of the payout, outside that $6 million, will go back to shareholders.
Palka’s association with the NY AG’s investigation has prompted LAPD to conduct an internal affairs investigation into the former captain’s conduct. The LAPD also put out a press release on the matter. In part, LAPD Chief Michael Moore stated, “What is most appalling is the alleged breach of trust of a victim of sexual assault, who is among the most vulnerable, by a member of the LAPD. This erodes the public trust and is not reflective of our values as an organization.”
Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, who passed away over the summer, went public with her accusations against Moonves back in 2018. The former CBS President resigned just hours after the publication of a Ronan Farrow-penned article about the accusations that was published concurrently by The New York Times. According to an anonymous law enforcement official’s confirmation to the AP, Golden-Gottlieb was the woman involved in the leak by Palka.
As Golden-Gottlieb’s son, Jim Gottlieb, told the AP in an email, “We would like to think the police are looking out for us, the victims, and not the perpetrators […] This sounds just like what you hear about certain police departments being in cahoots with organized crime.”
We will be sure to update you on any developments on this matter as they come to light.