Legal brawl that helped tank Jeff Shell's Paramount career ends
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The strange legal saga that torpedoed Jeff Shell’s career at Paramount Skydance has ended with a whimper.An attorney for Las Vegas gambler and self-styled “fixer” Robert James “R.J.” Cipriani has asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to dismiss the scorched-earth lawsuit he brought against Shell in March.Cipriani had been demanding $150 million for allegedly providing “sophisticated, high-value crisis communications services, entirely without compensation” to Shell over 18 months.Shell’s attorneys separately filed court documents to withdraw a counter-lawsuit against Cipriani.
The bitter feud captivated Hollywood earlier this year after Cipriani went public with his grievances against Shell, whom he met nearly two years ago through powerlawyer Patricia Glaser.Glaser had arranged a meeting in August 2024 between Cipriani and Shell, the former chief executive of NBCUniversal.
At the time, she and Shell suspected Cipriani was behind an online whisper campaign to spread rumors about Shell just as he was trying to mount a comeback at Paramount.A year earlier, Shell had lost his job as NBCUniversal’s chief executive over an inappropriate relationship with an underling.Cipriani claimed Shell turned to him for protection against potential bad publicity.
In his lawsuit, Cipriani alleged that, during months of on-again, off-again conversations, Shell dished sensitive information to him, including that Paramount was poised to strike a $7.7-billion deal to bring UFC fights to Paramount+.Cipriani also alleged Shell had reneged on a promise to help him develop a show at Paramount as compensation for his occasional work.
Hollywood Inc.R.J.
Cipriani filed a lawsuit against Jeff Shell alleging fraud and other counts, saying Shell reneged on an oral agreement to develop an English-language version of a Spanish music show.Shell has long maintained that he never made such a ...