On Sunday, NBCUniversal‘s CEO Jeff Shell resigns after acknowledging his “inappropriate relationship” with a woman staffer.
After a complaint was filed by the woman Shell admitted to having an “inappropriate relationship” with, corporate parent company Comcast hired external legal counsel to launch an investigation.
“Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal. 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, 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 stated.
As of now, Shell’s team will report to Comcast President, Mike Cavanagh. According to a source familiar with the situation, the company has not been actively seeking a replacement for Shell and has no immediate plans to do so. Cavanagh has been overseeing Shell and other NBCUniversal leaders for a while now and is well-versed in the company’s operations.
“We are disappointed to share this news with you. 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, as we have done here,” Cavanagh and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said.
Shell took over the company as CEO in January 2020. During his time, Shell was responsible for supervising the company’s theme parks, the Peacock streaming service, sports production operations, television stations group, and various entertainment and news television networks such as NBC News.
