NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is out after an 'inappropriate relationship'

Willem Marx

April 23, 2023 / 3:16 pm

caption: NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell speaks to the media at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in July 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Shell is out of his job after an "inappropriate relationship."

Jeff Shell, the head of Comcast's vast entertainment and media business, NBCUniversal, is leaving his role immediately, the company said Sunday, after an investigation found that he had engaged in "inappropriate conduct."

Shell had worked at Comcast for 19 years. In a brief statement, he apologized for an "inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company," and said he was "truly sorry" for letting down colleagues.

Updated April 23, 2023 at 8:26 PM ET

Comcast's statement added that outside counsel had been hired to oversee the investigation into Shell's behavior following a complaint, but provided very few other details.

According to a person with knowledge, the complaint was filed recently by the employee, who was a subordinate, and the company acted within days of the complaint.

Comcast has not yet named a successor to Shell, and announced that NBCU's senior managers would now report directly into the president of the Comcast, Mike Cavanagh.

Cavanagh said he was "disappointed to share this news" in a separate statement signed by himself and Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts, the son of the Philadelphia-based company's founder. "We built this company on a culture of integrity," Roberts and Cavanagh wrote. "You should count on your leaders to create a safe and respectful workplace."

Shell took on the NBCU CEO position in January 2020, succeeding Steve Burke just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated large swathes of the company's revenues, across news programming, entertainment networks, movies, and theme parks.

He joined Comcast in 2004 from Fox's cable division, and served as head of international operations in London before also chairing the company's film and entertainment division.

Allegations of sexual misconduct loom large at NBCUniversal. In 2020, Vice Chairman Ron Meyer was pushed out after disclosing that he had paid hush money to an actress with whom he had had an affair.

In 2017, NBC fired Today show host Matt Lauer after accusations he had sexually harassed colleagues, including an instance of assault, all claims Lauer denied.

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