Former PBS Host Must Pay $1.5 Million Under Morals Clause: Jury

Former talk show host Tavis Smiley must pay $1.5 million to the Public Broadcasting Service for the reputation damage resulting from his alleged sexual misconduct, a jury ruled, marking the first such verdict to test a company’s “morals clause” in the #MeToo era.

At the root of the case was PBS’s claim that Smiley breached a clause in his contract after multiple allegations of misconduct were reported against the former late-night show host. He was fired from the company in December 2017, as part of a wave of high-profile accusations against powerful figures in business and media that bubbled up ...