NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell has departed the company effective immediately following an investigation by outside counsel into a complaint of inappropriate conduct.
In a statement Shell said, “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.”
The statement said Shell and Comcast mutually agreed upon his immediate departure. Brian Roberts, CEO of NBCUniversal parent Comcast, announced the news to corporate staff.
”We are disappointed to share this news with you,” said Roberts. ”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.
Roberts continued, ”Please know that NBCUniversal is performing extremely well operationally and financially, and we couldn’t be more enthusiastic about our position and prospects going forward. We are fortunate to have an experienced, world-class group of executives leading this incredible company.
Shell’s senior team, which includes Universal Filmed Entertainment Group led by Donna Langley, will report to Comcast president Mike Cavanagh until a successor is put in place.
Shell joined Comcast in 2015 and took on his last role at the company in January 2020, reporting to Roberts. He advocated for collapsing the exclusive theatrical window and did just that in 2020, working with Langley to announce that Universal and Focus Features releases would go from theatres to PVoD after 17 days, adding some time later that films which opened on $50m or more could stay in theatres exclusively for 31 days.
The shock development will be top of mind at CinemaCon which kicks off in Las Vegas this week. Universal executives are scheduled to present their upcoming slate on Wednesday when they will no doubt be talking up the $871.8m-and-counting global box office success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
On Thursday Comcast executives will report earnings.
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