CNBC Anchor Complained NBCUniversal C.E.O. Pressured Her for Years

A CNBC journalist accused Jeff Shell, the previous chief govt of NBCUniversal, of pressuring her for intercourse over a interval of years throughout her profession on the enterprise news community, in keeping with a replica of her criticism reviewed by The New York Times.

The criticism, lodged in late March by Hadley Gamble, an anchor and senior worldwide correspondent, kicked off an investigation that led to Mr. Shell’s dismissal final week, sending shock waves throughout a far-flung media empire that features NBC News, the Universal film studio and DreamWorks Animation.

Less than a web page of Ms. Gamble’s criticism, which is greater than a dozen pages, centered on allegations of sexual harassment by Mr. Shell. Much of the criticism raised accusations of bullying and discrimination at CNBC, saying girls on the community’s worldwide division have been harassed by their male colleagues on a number of completely different events.

Comcast, NBCUniversal’s mum or dad firm, employed the regulation agency Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to analyze the criticism after it was despatched to the corporate’s executives in New York and London.

Comcast declined to touch upon the criticism.

Last week, Comcast stated that it had discovered proof to corroborate allegations of sexual harassment towards Mr. Shell and that it had fired him for trigger. The firm just isn’t paying him severance.

Mr. Shell stated in an announcement that he and Ms. Gamble had a “mutual and consensual relationship” and that “the complaint wildly misrepresents the facts of what happened.”

Suann MacIsaac, a lawyer for Ms. Gamble, stated that Mr. Shell “targeted” Ms. Gamble months earlier than they met in individual and continued his pursuit after his promotion to chief govt.

“We expect more attempts at revisionist history from a man who was just fired for cause following a decade long campaign of sexual harassment, which began when he was C.E.O. of NBC Universal International,” Ms. MacIsaac stated.

Ms. Gamble, 41, is a journalist primarily based in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, and has interviewed main world figures together with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany. She has labored for CNBC for greater than a decade within the Middle East and London, the place she met Mr. Shell.

The criticism alleged that Mr. Shell invited Ms. Gamble to dinner in London — the criticism doesn’t say what 12 months — when she was a comparatively junior producer and he was the top of NBC International. After the dinner, Mr. Shell accompanied Ms. Gamble again to her resort and he pressured her to start out a sexual relationship however was rebuffed.

Ms. Gamble didn’t work for the division Mr. Shell oversaw once they met, in keeping with an individual accustomed to the matter.

Ms. Gamble and Mr. Shell finally did start a sexual relationship, in keeping with the criticism, after it grew to become clear to her that rebutting his advances would in all probability injury her profession. The criticism stated that Mr. Shell continued to make use of his place of energy at NBCUniversal to strain her for intercourse whereas pursuing her in London, New York and Dubai.

Mr. Shell pursued Ms. Gamble on and off over a interval of years over textual content and electronic mail, in keeping with two folks accustomed to their correspondence, and Ms. Gamble turned over these messages to the corporate as a part of its investigation.

Elsewhere within the criticism, Ms. Gamble alleged particular cases of discrimination and inappropriate conduct towards quite a few girls at CNBC. In one occasion, Ms. Gamble describes a supervisor calling her a vulgar epithet for girls in entrance of her co-workers for elevating issues about bullying conduct from one other journalist. In one other, she alleges a co-worker berated her for ending an interview early, utilizing coarse language, and snapping at her for rewriting headlines that she needed to learn on air.

Ms. Gamble filed the criticism after CNBC didn’t renew her contract this 12 months. An individual accustomed to Ms. Gamble’s considering stated that her choice to file the criticism, which she had thought of for years, was additionally primarily based on frustration with what she considered as a poisonous tradition of harassment and bullying at CNBC. Axios earlier reported on these elements of the criticism.

John Casey, the president of CNBC International, informed her in February that the community wouldn’t provide her a contract for a interval longer than a month, in keeping with the criticism. He informed her that she had a behavioral downside and accused her of bullying different journalists at CNBC.

Ms. Gamble denied these accusations, in keeping with her criticism. She stated in her criticism that Mr. Casey had used the allegations of bullying to justify the choice to not renew her contract, including that such claims wouldn’t have been leveled towards a male peer.

Tension existed between Ms. Gamble and CNBC managers earlier than the community’s choice to not renew her contract. In June, the community informed her that it was investigating a criticism made towards her and a supervisor at CNBC who had supervised her.

Among different issues, CNBC investigated whether or not she had used a romantic relationship with Tom Barrack, a non-public fairness investor, to safe an interview with Jared Kushner, in keeping with Ms. Gamble’s criticism. The investigation concluded that Ms. Gamble did have a relationship with Mr. Barrack, however decided the connection was disclosed and there was no proof of impropriety, in keeping with her criticism. Mr. Barrack was single on the time of the connection with Ms. Gamble, in keeping with an individual accustomed to the connection.

The investigation into Ms. Gamble additionally discovered that she had made inappropriate feedback about some colleagues previously, and that she had not at all times strictly complied with CNBC’s journey and expense coverage.