Shepilov was the only Central Committee Secretary to oppose Khrushchev in June 1957 when a majority of the Presidium members tried to oust Khrushchev during the so-called Anti-Party Group affair. He reportedly joined the plot at the last moment when Lazar Kaganovich assured him that the plotters had a majority in the Presidium When Khrushchev prevailed at the Central Committee meeting, he was furious over what he saw as Shepilov's betrayal, and denounced him as 'Shepilov-who-joined-them'. Shepilov was ousted from the Central Committee on 29 June 1957 and vilified in the press along with Molotov, Malenkov and Kaganovich, the only 3 other Soviet leaders whose participation in the coup attempt was made public at the time. Shepilov was friend of Marshal Georgy Zhukov and perhaps that was one of the reasons why a few months later Zhukov himself was removed from the office.