Mr. Fager’s exit comes just days after CBS CEO Les Moonves stepped down after allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct going back nearly three decades. CBS News President David Rhodes denied Mr. Fager’s exit was a direct result of the allegations brought forth in multiple New Yorker articles.
“This action today is not directly related to the allegations surfaced in press reports, which continue to be investigated independently,” Mr. Rhodes wrote in an internal memo. “However, he violated company policy, and it is our commitment to uphold those policies at every level.”
Mr. Fager claims his dismissal is related to text messages he sent to CBS journalist Jericka Duncan regarding her reporting of his story, in which he wrote “There are people who lost their jobs trying to harm me, and if you pass on these damaging claims without your own reporting to back them up, that will become a serious problem.”
“They terminated my contract early because I sent a text message to one of our own CBS reporters demanding that she be fair in covering the story. My language was harsh, and despite the fact that journalists receive harsh demands for fairness all the time, CBS did not like it,” said Mr. Fager. “One such note should not result in termination after 36 years, but it did.”
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