Ben Silverman's Unlikely Rise

The network set up a committee to deal with the obvious conflict of interest. (All substantive decisions involving conflicts were made by Zucker.) But that did little to quell the months of industry grousing and bad press about NBC’s favoritism toward Reveille.

The situation was meant to be resolved last February, when Silverman sold Reveille to his friend, Elisabeth Murdoch, chairman and CEO of the British television company Shine, for $125 million. But many in Hollywood eye this arrangement with suspicion, possibly because NBC still identifies all Reveille business internally as presenting a potential conflict.

Meanwhile, Silverman continued to throw wild parties and appeared to have some trouble taking care of business. There were reports of missed meetings—such as one with David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios (the force behind Iron Man). Hollywood was buzzing for weeks after agent Ari Emanuel gave Silverman a public dressing down for such behavior in the executive dining room at Universal Pictures.

Last summer, rumors that Silverman had been quietly packed off to rehab were so prevalent that a reporter from the trade publication TV Week made reference to it in a question-and-answer session with Silverman.

"You've heard all the rumors about you," the reporter said. "The tigers in the bathtub. NBC hiring a designated driver for you. Rehab. Does it distract you from doing your job? Have you had to make any changes to your personal life?"

Silverman replied: “I am a true member of the American society and culture and I am constantly embracing all elements of that culture.”

The issue arose again in an interview with NBC co-chairman Marc Graboff. “I don’t want to condone drug use and honestly, I don’t know about any of that stuff and don’t want to,” Graboff told the trade publication Broadcast & Cable. “If he does it, I don’t see it.”

Then, beginning with a surprisingly long trip to the Beijing Olympics, Silverman was out of town for much of August—a time when network chiefs fuss over shows that will launch in September.

During that time, Silverman popped up intermittently as a caller to best friend Ryan Seacrest’s radio show on KIIS-FM, and the two seemed to enjoy fueling speculation about their private lives. The NBC chief is known for squiring around young women, but there were so many references to West Hollywood that the website Defamer marveled, “Who knew that Silverman and Seacrest were so well-versed about the gay goings-on [there]?”