NBCUniversal Loses CEO Over “Inappropriate Relationship”

Comcast sent shockwaves through Hollywood on Sunday when it released a terse statement announcing that NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was departing the entertainment company immediately following an outside investigation into “inappropriate conduct.” In a statement of his own, Shell revealed, “I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret.” 

The cable giant’s statement did not indicate who would be replacing the 19-year company veteran, though CEO Brian Roberts sent a memo to staff announcing that Comcast president Mike Cavanagh would run the company in the interim. “We are disappointed to share this news with you,” Roberts said in the memo, which was shared with Vanity Fair. “We built this company on a culture of integrity. Nothing is more important than how we treat each other.” 

Shell led NBCU—the company behind broadcaster NBC, cable networks like E! and Bravo, streamer Peacock, and the Universal Studios theme parks—for three years. He replaced longtime CEO Steve Burke in winter 2020 after a career that saw him leading the company’s film and TV businesses, international arm, and regional television networks. As chairman of the film group for six years, he oversaw franchises including Fast & the Furious, Jurassic World, and Despicable Me, according to the bio that was still live on NBCU’s corporate website as of Sunday afternoon.

Shell is the second top NBCUniversal executive in three years to be ousted from the company. Ron Meyer resigned as the company’s vice chairman in summer 2020 after it was discovered that he’d paid a settlement to actress Charlotte Kirk following an affair. In a statement at the time, he said that third parties had learned of the payment and “have continuously attempted to extort me into paying them money or else they intended to falsely implicate NBCUniversal, which had nothing to do with this matter, and to publish false allegations about me.”

News of Shell’s departure came as a surprise to many NBCU employees. He apologized to them in his Sunday afternoon statement: “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.”