CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble accused Jeff Shell of sexual harassment and sex discrimination in a complaint that led to his ousting as NBCUniversal CEO, her lawyer has said.
Shell left his role at the company after an investigation into his conduct was launched around a month ago, it was revealed on Sunday.
NBCUniversal did not say who had made the complaint, but media reports suggested it had been filed by Gamble after an on-off relationship between the pair had ended a few years’ ago.
Gamble’s lawyers subsequently confirmed this in a statement. ‘The investigation into Mr Shell arose from a complaint by my client of sexual harassment and sex discrimination,’ said Suzanne McKie, a managing partner of Farore Law, a UK-based firm.
‘Given these circumstances it is very disappointing that my client’s name has been released and her privacy violated.’
CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble accused Jeff Shell of sexual harassment and sex discrimination in a complaint that led to his ousting as NBCUniversal CEO
NBCUniversal did not say who had made the complaint, but media reports suggested it had been filed by Gamble after an on-off relationship between the pair had ended a few years’ ago
![Shell, who is married to Laura Fay Shell (left), admitted he had had an 'inappropriate relationship' with a member of staff, which he said he 'deeply regret[s]'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/24/20/70176709-12008055-Shell_who_is_married_to_Laura_Fay_Shell_left_admitted_he_had_had-m-14_1682365647444.jpg)
Shell, who is married to Laura Fay Shell (left), admitted he had had an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a member of staff, which he said he ‘deeply regret[s]’
Shell, who is married to Laura Fay Shell, admitted he had had an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a member of staff, which he said he ‘deeply regret[s]’.
The details of his affair with Gamble, 41, are not known publicly.
The CNBC anchor moved to front the channel’s Middle East coverage in 2018 after it began broadcasting Capital Connection from its new studio in Abu Dhabi.
She previously worked for ABC News and Fox News in Washington, DC and also presented CNBC’s Access show on the Middle East and Africa.
The high-flying news anchor grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, the daughter of a car dealer and teacher, and attended Halls High School in the city.
She graduated from the University of Miami in 2003, where she was a member of the famed Delta Gamma sorority, which boasts a number of media personalities among its alumni.
Gamble is unmarried and generally tight-lipped about her love life, but told Harper’s Bazaar Arabia last year that she was looking for ‘trust, transparency, kindness, [and] the chutzpah to tell it like it is’ in a companion.
She said that her exhausting work schedule made having a personal life difficult, but that she was open to a relationship with someone who shared her values.
‘Every relationship teaches you more about yourself and the whole point of living is to grow and become a better, stronger and hopefully, more interesting person,’ she said.
Gamble has generally been tight-lipped about her personal life but said she would be open to a relationship with a companion who shared her values
Harvard- and Berkeley-educated Shell, 57, from Michigan, has been at Comcast for more than 20 years, having joined the company from Fox
During the interview, she also spoke of her upbringing in the eastern mountains of Tennessee where she began grooming her father’s horses from the age of 10.
She said her early life was a far cry from her current position as a leading journalist in the Middle East, adding that her family expected her to become a teacher or lawyer and get married.
Gamble began her career at agencies the Associated Press and Reuters, but got her break at ABC after an old boyfriend introduced her to a booker for Good Morning America, which in turn led to her getting a gig as a production assistant for the World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.
Harvard- and Berkeley-educated Shell, 57, from Michigan, has been at Comcast for more than 20 years, having joined the company from Fox.
He ran international operations out of London from 2011 to 2013 before moving to serve as chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment.
He and his wife hosted a fundraising event at their $10million Beverly Hills mansion for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in 2020
He took over as CEO in January 2020, and was responsible for overseeing a sprawling portfolio that ran from news and entertainment TV networks, to the film studio, theme parks and other divisions.
As NBCUniversal CEO, Shell was also charged with moving the company more heavily into streaming.
He and his wife hosted a fundraising event at their $10million Beverly Hills mansion for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in 2020, according to Variety.
Shell is the second senior executive to be forced out of NBCUniversal in recent years.
In April 2020, NBCUniversal said it had parted with vice president, Ron Meyer, after he failed to properly disclose he had paid a settlement to a woman with whom he had a consensual affair several years earlier.
Shell said at that time that Meyer ‘acted in a manner which we believe isn’t consistent with our company policies or values.’