Jeff Shell is out at NBC Universal as CEO. The reason? At least for now the reason given is an “inappropriate relationship” with a female in the company. In other words, he was having an affair with someone who worked for him.
It’s actually hard to believe in 2023 that no one has learned their lesson. After Shell himself had to fire Universal’s Ron Meyer, CBS booted Les Moonves, CNN got rid of Jeff Zucker, Warner Bros. had their problem with Kevin Tsujihara, and on air personalities like Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose were shown the door — you’d think the message was clear. It’s not 1955, we are not living in a John Cheever novel. That party is over with a capital O.
“Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal,” Shell — who’s been married a long time — wrote in a memo to staff. “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.”
Have none of these people ever seen the movie, “Network”? The whole thing has become a huge cliche at this point. And just wait for more to come out about what was really going on. For Comcast to let this out on a Sunday means they couldn’t wait another minute.
