Paramount's Jeff Shell strikes back against Vegas gambler

5 hours ago 3

Paramount President Jeff Shell has fired backmost successful his disfigured feud with a Las Vegas gambler and FBI informant, contending that Robert “R.J.” Cipriani has fictionalized the 2 men’s dealings, past dispersed “false and salacious lies to extract a monolithic payday.”

Shell filed a suit 1 week aft the high-roller had sued Shell successful Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Cipriani’s suit had alleged fraud and breach of an oral declaration tied to his claims that Shell failed to present connected a verbal pledge to assistance him make an English-language mentation of a Spanish euphony amusement that streams connected Roku TV. Cipriani has been seeking $150 cardinal successful damages.

However, Shell’s lawsuit, filed Monday successful Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges helium was the unfortunate of extortion and defamation.

“R.J. Cipriani did not travel to Court to enforce immoderate purported oral agreement. He came to implicit a shakedown,” according to Shell’s counter-claim lawsuit. “Cipriani’s playbook works similar this: usage a trusted communal transportation to cozy up to a high-profile target; leech to the fringes of the target’s satellite portion manufacturing the illusion of closeness; falsely assertion you person been helping the people from down the scenes.”

Shell contends that Cipriani demanded compensation for his unsolicited efforts, past sought to “weaponize that fiction,” followed by a menace of nationalist vulnerability to extract an alleged payday.

The determination comes arsenic Shell faces scrutiny aft his Paramount bosses hired a instrumentality steadfast to analyse his surreptitious dealings with Cipriani, a self-styled “fixer.” Investigators person been reviewing whether Shell leaked delicate firm secrets during his relation with Cipriani, who volunteered to beryllium Shell’s “crisis PR” consultant.

Shell denied the assertion successful his lawsuit.

“Shell had disclosed nary specified information, and helium refused to wage a dime. Under black-letter California law, Cipriani’s usage of threats to extract wealth was extortion. And Cipriani’s mendacious and incendiary accusations successful the property and to countless others that Shell had violated securities instrumentality are defamation per se.”

High-powered lawyer Patty Glaser introduced Cipriani to Shell during an August 2024 meeting. Both men were clients astatine the time, and she and Shell had crushed to judge Cipriani was attempting to disturbance up antagonistic property sum astir Shell to scuttle his comeback aft his ouster from NBCUniversal, wherever helium served arsenic main enforcement for 3 years.

Jeff Shell, Paramount Skydance President

(Paramount/Skydance)

Shell’s suit was brought by Steven Olson of O’Melveny & Myers successful Los Angeles.

Shell officially joined Paramount with David Ellison’s takeover successful August but helium had been portion of Ellison’s squad for astir 2 years arsenic they laid the groundwork to assemble the pieces of Ellison’s increasing empire, archetypal by acquiring Paramount and past Warner Bros. Discovery.

The longtime media enforcement besides serves arsenic a subordinate of Paramount’s board.

Cipriani and his lawyer were not instantly disposable for comment.