NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was removed from his position after an “improper relationship” with CNBC news anchor Hadley Gamble, sources say.
deadline reported Shell began a relationship with the international correspondent some 11 years ago, which occasionally continued until it ended ‘a few years ago’.
Comcast announced on Sunday that Shell would leave the company following an investigation by outside counsel into a complaint filed against Shell last month.
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]’.
NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell (pictured in June) has been removed from his position after admitting to an “improper relationship,” allegedly in violation of company policy
Gamble, CNBC news anchor, is said to have had an ‘improper relationship’ with Shell
Jeff Shell is pictured with his wife Laura Shell at the Emmy Awards in September 2022
Hadley Gamble is CNBC’s senior international correspondent based in the UAE.
During her Access segment, she speaks with world political and business leaders, including Mike Pompeo, King Abudullah II of Jordan and Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh el-Sisi.
In 2021, Gamble interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said she was too “beautiful” to understand anything he made about energy.
After the interview, body language experts claimed that Gamble flirted with Putin as a distraction tactic.
Gamble made light of the situation by uploading a photo to Instagram in which she pointed to an article in the Russian publication Kommersant about the interview, captioned “my best angle” with a smiling emoji and #feminism tag.
Gamble’s alleged relationship with Jeff Shell came to light during an investigation by outside counsel following a complaint filed against Shell.
Deadline reported that Shell and Gamble had communicated via email from the company, as revealed during the investigation.
A company memo about Shell’s departure reportedly claimed that the affair was against company policy.
Shell’s team will now report to Comcast President Mike Cavanagh, CNBC reports.
Shell is married to Laura Fay Shell, who previously worked for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
In a statement, Jeff Shell said, “Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal. I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret.
“I am truly sorry to have let my colleagues at Comcast and NBCUniversal down, they are the most talented people in the industry and the opportunity to work with them over the past 19 years has been a privilege.”
Brian Roberts, CEO of Cavanagh and Comcast, said in their own joint statement, “We are disappointed to share this news with you.
“We built this company on a culture of integrity. Nothing is more important than how we treat each other. Count on your leaders to create a safe and respectful workplace.
“If our principles and policies are violated, we will always act quickly to take appropriate action, as we have done here.”
Shell’s departure comes at a critical time for NBCUniversal and Comcast.
Their streaming service, Peacock, launched in April 2020 and has progressed but is still much smaller than services backed by rivals in the industry.
In the fourth quarter, Peacock surpassed 20 million paid subscribers but lost nearly $1 billion on an adjusted basis, the company said.
Mike Cavanagh, who was named president of Comcast in October, will take over from Shell
CNBC’s Middle East anchor Hadley Gamble at the new Middle East Headquarters Abu Dhabi Global Market on April 15, 2018 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
NBC’s logo pictured at Universal Studios in Florida. Shell oversaw the theme parks in its role
Shell has been with Comcast for over 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 took over as CEO in January 2020 and was responsible for overseeing a sprawling portfolio that spanned 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.
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.”