Jeff Shell, the former president of Paramount Skydance, has resolved litigation with a gambler who accused him of leaking confidential company information and who sought $150 million for off-the-books crisis PR work.
The gambler, R.J. Cipriani, sued Shell, his wife, Paramount, Larry and David Ellison and others in March, claiming that he was owed millions for communications work performed under an unwritten agreement. Shell countersued, alleging that Cipriani was attempting to exploit their fleeting relationship to shake him down for an undeserved payday.
The two sides each dropped their suits with prejudice on Tuesday. Shell and Paramount are understood not to have paid Cipriani. Paramount and Shell declined to comment. Cipriani’s attorney, Steven Aaronoff, did not respond to a request for comment.
Cipriani also alleged that he had received confidential information from Shell in violation of securities laws. When initially confronted with that accusation in February, Shell disclosed it to Paramount, which launched an internal investigation.
The internal probe concluded that Shell had not violated any securities rules, the company said in April.
Shell stepped down as president in April to “focus” on the litigation. At the time, the company called the allegations against it “frivolous and baseless.”
According to Cipriani’s complaint, Shell had confided his belief that Paramount was overpaying for Warner Bros. Discovery in its bidding war with Netflix. He also allegedly trash-talked David Zaslav, the CEO of WBD, saying he was considered a “suck-up” to Hollywood celebrities.
Shell was introduced to Cipriani through their mutual lawyer, Patty Glaser. According to the complaint, Glaser sought to resolve the dispute by meeting with both parties in February, at which she purportedly offered Cipriani a $150,000 “loan” that would not have to be repaid. Cipriani accused Glaser in his suit of having a conflict of interest because she represented both parties to the dispute. Both sides later retained separate attorneys to handle the litigation.
Glaser declined to comment Thursday on the resolution.
In his complaint, Cipriani also claimed credit for orchestrating a June 2025 article in the Hollywood Reporter about Shell’s dispute with “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The complaint argued that the article had exposed the creators’ greediness and thus saved Paramount $1.5 billion.
“Despite this staggering benefit, Shell refused to compensate Plaintiff in any amount,” the suit stated.
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