CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble accused Jeff Shell of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in a complaint that led to his resignation as CEO of NBCUniversal, her attorney said.
Shell left his role at the company after an investigation into his behavior was launched about a month ago, it was revealed on Sunday.
NBCUniversal didn’t say who filed the complaint, but media reports suggested it was filed by Gamble after an on-again, off-again relationship between the couple ended a few years ago.
Gamble’s lawyers subsequently confirmed this in a statement. “The investigation into Mr. Shell stemmed from a complaint from my client about sexual harassment and gender discrimination,” said Suzanne McKie, managing partner of Farore Law, a UK firm.
“Given these circumstances, it is very disappointing that my client’s name has been released and her privacy has been violated.”
CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble accused Jeff Shell of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in a complaint that led to his firing as CEO of NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal didn’t say who filed the complaint, but media reports suggested it was filed by Gamble after an on-off relationship between the couple ended a few years ago
Shell, who is married to Laura Fay Shell (left), admitted he had an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with an employee, which he said he was ‘deeply sorry about'[s]’
Shell, who is married to Laura Fay Shell, has admitted to having an “inappropriate relationship” with an employee, which he says he “deeply regrets”.[s]’.
The details of his affair with Gamble, 41, are not publicly known.
The CNBC anchor moved to the channel’s Middle East coverage in 2018 after it began broadcasting Capital Connection from its new studio in Abu Dhabi.
She previously worked for ABC News and Fox News in Washington, DC and also hosted CNBC’s Access show about the Middle East and Africa.
The high-flying news anchor grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, the daughter of a car dealer and teacher, and attended Halls High School in the city.
She graduated from the University of Miami in 2003, where she was a member of the famous Delta Gamma sorority, which has a number of media personalities among its alumni.
Gamble is unmarried and generally tight-lipped about her love life, but it gets told Harpers Bazaar Arabia last year that she was looking for “trust, transparency, friendliness, [and] the chutzpah to tell it like it is’ in a companion.
She said her exhausting work schedule made it difficult to have a personal life, but she was open to a relationship with someone who shared her values.
“Every relationship teaches you more about yourself and the whole purpose of life is to grow and become a better, stronger and hopefully more interesting person,” she said.
Gamble was generally tight-lipped about her personal life, but said she would be open to a relationship with a companion who shared her values
Harvard and Berkeley-educated Shell, 57, from Michigan, has been with Comcast for more than 20 years after joining the company from Fox
During the interview, she also talked about her upbringing in the eastern mountains of Tennessee, where she started taking care of her father’s horses from the age of ten.
She said her early life was a far cry from her current position as a leading journalist in the Middle East, adding that her family expected her to become a teacher or a lawyer and get married.
Gamble began her career working for agencies Associated Press and Reuters, but got her break at ABC after an old boyfriend introduced her to a booker for Good Morning America, which in turn led to her landing a gig as a production assistant for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.
Harvard- and Berkeley-educated Shell, 57, from Michigan, has been with Comcast for more than 20 years and joined the company from Fox.
He led international operations from London from 2011 to 2013 before becoming president of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment.
He and his wife hosted a fundraising event at their $10 million Beverly Hills mansion for Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign
He took over as CEO in January 2020 and was responsible for overseeing a vast portfolio spanning from news and entertainment TV networks to the movie studio, theme parks and other divisions.
As CEO of NBCUniversal, Shell was also tasked with moving the company more strongly into streaming.
He and his wife hosted a fundraising event at their $10 million Beverly Hills mansion for Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign, according to Variety.
Shell is the second senior executive forced to leave NBCUniversal in recent years.
In April 2020, NBCUniversal said it had parted ways with Vice President, Ron Meyer, after he failed to properly disclose his settlement payment to a woman he had a consensual affair with several years earlier.
Shell said at the time that Meyer “acted in a manner that we believe is inconsistent with our company policies or values.”