H'wood Top Brass Honored for Addiction Awareness
President and CEO of CBS Corporation Leslie Moonves was honored by CASAColumbia for his commitment to raising awareness of substance abuse on Wednesday.
Founded by former United States Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASAColumbia is dedicated to making America drug free. Moonves considers Califano to be an idol of his.
"Joe started something called Family Dinner," said Moonves, who is a father of four. "My family is really important to me and CASA has proven that in families that eat together the kids don't do drugs, they don't do alcohol."
CASAColumbia awarded Moonves with the Distinguished Service award at their 21st anniversary dinner in New York City. Moonves' wife Julie Chen also received the award, although she was unable to attend the dinner due to her responsibilities to her CBS show The Talk.
Another honoree, Jamie Lee Curtis, was proud just to be associated with the organization, which had her as a board member for eight years.
"They study," said Curtis. "They look at the data. They take their time and then they make a report and tell us all what they think are the underlying factors surrounding addiction and substance abuse."
"This is one of the most deadly diseases in the country -- addiction is," said CBS This Morning co-host Norah O'Donnell, who acted as master of ceremonies. "Sometimes there's a lot of shame associated with addiction, but there shouldn't be shame because this is a disease."