NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell has left the company, after NBCU hired outside counsel to investigate a complaint about Shell's "inappropriate relationship" with a female coworker.
Numerous reports filed since NBCU's abrupt statement Sunday early afternoon have suggested that Shell, 57, had an affair with Abu Dhabi-based CNBC international correspondent Hadley Gamble. Neither NBCU, Shell or Gamble has confirmed that.
The reports also said that Gamble filed the complaint against Shell herself. According to the Penske showbiz trades, Shell's relationship with Gamble started in around 2012 and continued sporadically up until a couple of years ago.
On Monday, NBCU parent company Comcast told the SEC in a regulatory filing that it fired Shell "for cause" related to his alleged harassment of an employee. A with-cause termination would negate any severance requirement on NBCU's part.
The decision for Shell to depart immediately was described as mutual in an NBCU statement released abruptly Sunday afternoon. Shell ran NBCU's entertainment operations and had been with the company for nearly two decades.
“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'm truly sorry I let my Comcast and NBCUniversal colleagues down, they are the most talented people in the business and the opportunity to work with them the last 19 years has been a privilege," Shell said in a statement.
NBCU provided no further details in its statement. However, an internal memo intercepted by the New York Times said that Shell's senior executive team would, at least for now, report to Comcast President Mike Cavanagh.
"We built this company on a culture of integrity. Nothing is more important than how we treat each other," reads a memo sent out Sunday by Cavanagh and Comcast Corp. Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts.
"You should count on your leaders to create a safe and respectful workplace," the memo adds. "When our principles and policies are violated, we will always move quickly to take appropriate action, which we have done here."
Ironically, it was Shell who fired longtime NBCU Vice Chairman Ron Meyer in 2020 over an affair with a woman who wasn't a company employee.
Shell is married to Laura Fay Shell, who previously worked for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
In January, Shell and NBCU reported a huge $973 million adjusted EBITDA loss on streaming service Peacock in Q4, but the former CEO sounded optimistic about the platform turning the corner, with paid memberships doubling in 2022 to over 20 million.
