Journo Pro Tip: If You're Trying to Hide the Fact You're Banging the Billionaire You've Interviewed, Keep Him Out of the Background of Your Zoom Calls

This is CNBC reporter Hadley Gamble. Those of you with enough money to invest to watch the network may be familiar with her work. But since all my assets are tied up in a treasure chest that's buried in my back yard (and can only be found by deciphering the coded clues hidden in this blog - happy hunting!), I only became aware of this professional finance journalist when she became the subject of a news item, rather than the one breaking the story:

Source - CNBC reporter Hadley Gamble had a romantic relationship with billionaire Tom Barrack that was exposed to her coworkers way back in 2020 — after the prominent Trump backer accidentally loafed on camera while she was filming her show, The Post has learned.

Gamble’s affair with Barrack surfaced after revelations regarding her “inappropriate relationship” with ousted NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell – who was fired last Sunday after an internal investigation after “a complaint of inappropriate conduct.”

In behind-the-scenes video from the summer of 2020 obtained by The Post, a pink dress-clad Gamble can be seen preparing for a live shot on the set of her CNBC International show “Capital Connection” when a man casually walks into the frame.

The nine-second video was taken in Bodrum, Turkey, where Gamble was preparing to host the show remotely from a ritzy hotel suite. ...

Three sources identified the man in the background of the video as Barrack. 

The video of the incident was leaked across CNBC newsrooms and sparked murmuring among staffers who questioned whether Gamble, then 39, had been dating Barrack, then 74, at the time of the interview — as well as why the relationship was never disclosed on air. 

Journos love to say they hate to be the subject of news stories. That ideally, the ethics of their profession require them to remain quietly in the background and give their audience the Who, What, and Where, and let the public decide the Whys on their own. But in no way is this one of those situations. 

How could anyone not want to be the center of this major story? Apparently Gamble is a back-bencher at CNBC. A relative unknown on a niche network with a small, specific audience. And here she is, being escorted around the globe by a billionaire. Flying first clase (and probably private jets) to five-star luxury hotels while draped in haute couture fashion. 

Meanwhile all her co-workers are scrambling around looking for newsworthy crumbs, begging for interviews while they sit in their cubicles, working through the lunch of the stale tuna sandwich they brought from home to save on expenses. Which certainly explains who leaked the video. That kind of personal and professional success just breeds resentment. But even Gamble's most bitter, jealous colleague has to admit she got the job done. She wasn't just giving it away to this Tom Barrack guy. She got the interview with him and with a member of Trump's inner circle that they couldn't. So credit where credit is due. 

As far as Gamble's boss getting fired, that's still a bit of a mystery. The network canned him the same day as Fox dropped the ax on Tucker Carlson, so no one was paying attention. But whatever the "inappropriate" nature of their "relationship" was, the fact her billionaire boyfriend showed up on a work video likely didn't help matters. All we know for sure is she filed a sexual harassment complaint against the company, alleging that another executive dropped the C-bomb on her in front of two other staffers, launching an investigation by the HR Department. And as is so often the case, once you start to pull that thread, all your entanglements start to come undone. 

So let this be a lesson to all you aspiring journos out there. Dating a super wealthy and highly connected news figure is a great career move, every time it's tried. Just let your honey know you've turned the webcam on. Or have a signal, like a sock hanging on the doorknob to remind him to stay in the bedroom until the coast is clear. There's no telling how many careers you'll save.