Daily Mail: CNBC reporter at center of affair with ousted NBCUniversal CEO was once accused of 'flirting' with Putin

Story from Daily Mail:

The experienced CNBC journalist accused of having an affair with the ousted CEO of NBCUniversal is the same reporter who interviewed Vladimir Putin in 2021 - and was promptly accused of coming on to the politician as part of a secret US 'special op.'

At the time, CNBC Senior International Correspondent Hadley Gamble, 41, was accused, by the Kremlin, of using 'flirtation tactics' to distract the then 69-year-old Russian leader - and now seems to be at the center of her married boss's ousting.

Corporate parent Comcast laid bare some of the details of the affair Sunday upon announcing that Shell, 57, would be vacating his role at NBC's news arm effective immediately after nearly 20 years with the company.

The media giant wrote Shell, promoted to the top seat three years ago, was leaving due to the findings from an 'outside counsel' - hired by the firm after it received a complaint of 'inappropriate conduct' involving the CEO and another staffer.

Multiple people have since said that person was Gamble - who also reportedly sent in the complaint. She is the last Westerner to interview Putin prior to his invasion of Ukraine. The interview sparked controversy at the time due to Gamble's attractive appearance and purported promiscuousness, spurring comments from the Kremlin.

Shell, meanwhile, is out of a job. On Sunday, in an apologetic statement, he owned up to having an 'inappropriate relationship' despite being married for several years.

'Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal. I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret,' Shell confirmed Sunday in a statement shared shortly after Comcast's. 'I'm truly sorry I let my Comcast and NBCUniversal colleagues down.'

The former executive added: '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 remarks represented a stark fall from grace for Shell, a high-powered media titan who rapidly rose through the ranks of Comcast over the course of a 19-year career that saw him responsible for networks such as E! and the Golf Channel.

Prior to being promoted, he served as the chairman of NBCUniversal, and in 2013 was tapped to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a news firm funded entirely by the US government. He was personally appointed by then-President Barack Obama.

He owns a $7.25 million condo in Beverly Hills, a 4,355-square-foot home he purchased the same year as his appointment after relocating to LA from London to take on a bigger role - and would eventually wed his 51-year-old wife, Laura Fay Shell.

Laura, previously an employee of Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, has yet to comment on her husband's statement - which made no mention of Gamble, who also boasts an impressive track record with the company.

Hired as an anchor in 2010, the reporter is now one of the network's foremost foreign correspondents based in the Middle East- and as a result has interviewed figures ranging from the pope to Putin, all the while earning prestige among her colleagues.

Along the way, though, Gamble has been praised not for her accomplishments as a journalist but for her good looks - something not lost on the Russian leader when the two met two years ago for the controversial interview, which at the time aired on Russian State TV.

'A beautiful woman, pretty,' Putin remarked of Gamble's appearance at the time, turning to male members of the Moscow audience, as the CNBC staffer elected to wear a form-fitting black dress for the occasion.

The comment came after the Russian leader was caught on camera making faces many on social media viewed as flirtatious to his to-be interviewer prior to going onstage.

It was also delivered as Putin seemed to grow increasingly befuddled by the line of questioning offered up by Gamble - who has also held news posts at ABC News and Fox - who was pressing the politician on reports he withheld gas supplies to Europe to drive up prices.

'I tell her one thing, and she says something completely different,' Putin said after denying the allegations but continuing to be questioned. 'As if she didn't hear what I said.'

Four months later, Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine as part of an escalation into its ongoing conflict with the country, now considered a war.

The interview was held on October 13, 2021, during Russia's Energy Week, and almost immediately became a front-page affair after Russian state media accused Gamble of flirting with President Putin during an interview as a distraction tactic.

On the popular state show 60 Minutes, host Olga Skabeeva declared Gamble was taking part in an American 'special operation' targeting the Russian president.

She said: 'Let me remind you that only a short time ago there was a huge scandal when it turned out that Putin brought translator Daria Boyarskaya to his negotiations with Donald Trump... Look at Comrade Gamble, she is also a beauty.

'Look at Megyn Kelly, she is the woman the Americans brought the last time. She was a blonde, this time it's a brunette. They're in the same age and weight category. They keep trying to get to Putin.'

Journalist and former politician Mikhail Markelov, who previously hosted a TV program entitled Sovershenno Sekretno [in English: Top Secret], agreed, billing Gamble as America's 'secret weapon.'

He posited that the journalist was 'sent' as a counter-response to Putin's translator, whom he described as more 'modest.'

Fellow propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov also insisted on state TV the reporter acted 'shamelessly' and 'cast wistful glances' at Putin, even going as far to provocatively bare legs - calling it her 'basic instinct' in an apparent reference to Sharon Stone’s infamous leg-crossing scene in the 1992 film.

'Hadley squeezed into a tight black dress, fluffed up her flowing hair, and put on a pair of nude leg-lengthening Louboutin high-heel pumps,' he told viewers of his state TV program Vesti Nedeli.

He added that her legs were 'covered in shimmering body oil, as though this wasn’t a work assignment,' and declared that '[Gamble] behaved boldly, openly positioning herself as a sexual object.'

All the media personalities also cited hair twirling, feet circling in the air, and 'dilated pupils' seen from Gamble during the interview as further evidence of her flirtacious intentions, with the journalist coming under increased scrutiny amid the storm of media attention.

At the time, Gamble laughed off the 'scandal' - even posting a picture of a cake baked by friends at the time boasting Putin's befuddled face and a caption that read: 'too beautiful'.

Posting the image to her Instagram, she captioned the image: 'I have the best friends'.

In another post, she shared a photo of her holding the cover of Russian newspaper Kommersant, after the publication prominently featured a picture of her speaking with Putin on the front page.