NBC Boss Fired After Decades-Long Romance With CNBC Journalist Once Accused Of Hitting On Vladimir Putin
NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was fired from the mass media company this weekend for having an “inappropriate relationship” with a female CNBC journalist, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Shell’s sudden departure from NBCUniversal was announced on Sunday and came after NBCU’s parent company, Comcast, hired an independent counsel to launch an investigation into the allegations against the 57-year-old boss.
"Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal," Shell said in a statement on Sunday. "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,” he continued, “they are the most talented people in the business and the opportunity to work with them the last 19 years has been a privilege.”
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Comcast President Mike Cavanagh further confirmed Shell’s departure in an internal memo sent out on Sunday to the company’s nearly 35,000 employees.
"We are disappointed to share this news with you,” Roberts and Cavanagh wrote. “We built this company on a culture of integrity. Nothing is more important than how we treat each other. You should count on your leaders to create a safe and respectful workplace.”
“When our principles and policies are violated, we will always move quickly to take appropriate action,” they continued, “as we have done here."
According to Deadline, the female employee who filed the inappropriate conduct complaint against Shell was CNBC anchor and Senior International Correspondent Hadley Gamble.
The outlet indicated that Shell and Gamble started a relationship in 2012, although the pair’s relationship ended sometime in 2021.
Gamble reportedly filed the complaint against Shell earlier this month and, during the investigation into the matter, the outside counsel hired by Comcast discovered communications between Shell and Gamble via company email.
Gamble came under fire in October 2021 during an interview with Vladimir Putin just a few months before the Russian president launched his invasion of Ukraine.
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According to Russian state media at the time, Gamble, now 41, was accused of “hitting on” and acting and acting as a “sex object” to distract Putin during the interview.
Gamble was also the last Western journalist to interview Putin before Russia’s war against Ukraine started four months later in February 2022.