Late last week, it appeared NBC locked up Paris Hilton to a $1 million deal. But sources tell The New York Post that General Electric CEO & Chairman Jeff Immelt personally pulled the plug.

"This is the latest in a series of p.r. debacles for NBC - Imus and the Virginia Tech shooter tapes were the others," said a highly placed source. "He [Immelt] had to weigh in."

The Post also reports "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams had been lobbying both network and GE corporate honchos to back off Paris coverage.

NBC RESPONDS: NBC News spokesperson Allison Gollust responds to the story: it is "patently, unequivocally, totally false. He (Immelt) did not have a single conversation with anyone at NBC about Paris Hilton, and Brian Williams never communicated with him about it."