The first to be shell-shocked was NBCUni, with the Monday announcement that CEO Jeff Shell would be leaving the company after an internal investigation into a complaint about an inappropriate relationship with a newswoman at the same company.
Then, on Tuesday came more big news about news. Two TV news outlets from opposite sides of the political spectrum — FOX News and CNN — both fired their star hosts, far-right advocate Tucker Carlson at FOX, and liberal Don Lemon at CNN. The former found out about his dismissal 10 minutes before FOX announced his departure, the latter reported that he found out on Monday from his agent that he had been terminated. This prompted a statement from Lemon: “After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly.”
CNN responded that Lemon, who was paid $4 million a year, had been “offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
According to published reports, CNN management wanted to change the perception that CNN’s political coverage was too partisan.
No official reason was given as to why the two were let go, but varying narratives have begun to emerge in the printed press, while cable news channels have instead focused on each other’s plight.
Neither host has announced a lawsuit or dispute against their former employers. But they’ve both retained the same powerhouse lawyer, Bryan Freedman, to handle their departures. Freedman is an attorney with a record of helping TV hosts secure millions from their former networks.
Carlson’s ouster from a $20-million-a-year job is reportedly due to FOX being forced to settle a $787.5 million defamation suit brought from voting-machine company Dominion that claimed that Carlson and FOX made and aired false claims that the company had rigged the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in favor of Joe Biden.
Shell ran a division that included TV broadcasting, cable channels, film studios, and theme parks, earning $21.6 million in 2021 (the latest available figure). Comcast, NBCUni’s parent company, launched an investigation soon after the woman, a journalist at the company, lodged a complaint.
Comcast president Mike Cavanagh is temporarily filling Shell’s position. Potential successors include Mark Lazarus, who oversees television and streaming businesses; Cesar Conde, who heads NBCUni News Group; and Donna Langley, currently in charge of theatrical operations.
Pictured above from top l.: Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon, and Jeff Shell below.
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