CNBC anchor filed sexual harassment complaint, sparking Jeff Shell exit
NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell’s sudden departure followed an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint made against him by a longtime CNBC correspondent.
The 41-year-old journalist, Hadley Gamble, has been a Middle East correspondent and anchor for the NBCUniversal-owned financial news network for about a decade. Her attorney confirmed Monday that Gamble had filed a harassment complaint against Shell.
In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, NBCUniversal parent Comcast Corp. acknowledged that it hired outside counsel after the company received a complaint that Shell “engaged in inappropriate conduct with a female employee, including allegations of sexual harassment.”
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“During the investigation, evidence was uncovered that corroborated the allegations,” Comcast said in the Monday filing.
Shell was fired for cause and his contract was terminated, Comcast said.
The company does not plan to pay him a severance package, a person close to the company said.
Comcast had announced Sunday that Shell was stepping down “effective immediately.”
It was unclear when Gamble filed her sexual harassment complaint, although a person familiar with the situation said the claims were made several weeks ago, prompting Comcast to hire the outside law firm to investigate.
The investigation wrapped up over the weekend.
Gamble’s London-based attorney confirmed the nature of Gamble’s complaint in a statement Monday.
“The investigation into Mr. Shell arose from a complaint by my client of sexual harassment and sex discrimination,” lawyer Suzanne McKie said.
Shell’s media representative was not immediately available for comment.
Comcast’s Sunday announcement of Shell’s ouster did not identify the woman involved in the matter. Gamble’s name began circulating hours later as insiders tried to piece together the latest instance of misconduct to topple a Hollywood executive.
By late Sunday, news outlets had identified Gamble and some prominently featured photos of her in their online reports.
McKie declined to discuss specifics contained in Gamble’s confidential complaint.
“Given these circumstances, it is very disappointing that my client’s name has been released and her privacy violated,” McKie said.
On Sunday, Shell acknowledged that he had stepped down after three years as chief executive.
“Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal,” Shell said in the statement, which acknowledged “an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company,” but he did not further specify the nature of the problematic relationship.
“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.
The Wall Street Journal first reported McKie’s confirmation of the sexual harassment report.
Comcast does not plan to immediately start a search for Shell’s successor. Instead, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh will take over Shell’s senior executive team and lead the entertainment company in the interim, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Cavanagh said in a note to employees.
Shell is the latest high-powered entertainment industry player to lose his job over alleged misbehavior toward women.
Nearly three years ago, Comcast booted Ron Meyer, the longtime Universal executive, after learning that he had made hush-money payments to a young actress to cover up an old affair. At the time, Shell said in a statement that Meyer “acted in a manner which we believe is not consistent with our company policies or values.”
NBCUniversal also fired popular morning anchor Matt Lauer in November 2017 after a female employee complained to NBC’s human resources department that the NBC News star had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace with her on several occasions in 2014. After his firing, several other women came forward with allegations about older incidents involving Lauer.
Lauer’s ouster came less than two months after allegations of misconduct by Harvey Weinstein were first exposed, giving rise to the #MeToo movement, which became a call to arms by legions of women demanding an end to sexual harassment and abusive work environments. The following year, longtime CBS chief Leslie Moonves was ousted.
Shell was named NBCUniversal’s chief in January 2020 and he quickly moved to put his stamp on the media company.
He also demonstrated little tolerance for bad behavior. Within months of taking the top job, Shell overhauled NBC News, which had spent years mired in controversy over its handling of the Lauer and Weinstein sexual misconduct cases as well as the infamous NBC “Access Hollywood” tapes in which then-candidate Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women by their private parts.
Source: Los Angeles Times
