Jeff Shell settles $150m legal spat that cost him his job as Paramount president

Jeff Shell has settled the US$150m lawsuit that cost him his job as president of Paramount Skydance (PSKY).

Jeff Shell

The legal case between Shell and Vegas gambler RJ Cipriani, who had accused the media exec of owing him for crisis communication services that saved Paramount millions and leaking sensitive corporate information, was resolved on Tuesday when both parties dropped their lawsuits.

The exact terms of the settlement are not known, but reports said neither Shell nor PSKY paid Cipriani.

In his lawsuit, Cipriani claimed Shell pre-emptively disclosed confidential corporate information including PSKY’s US$7.7bn Ultimate Fighting Championship deal and divulged his view that PSKY was overpaying for Warner Bros Discovery.

Cipriani also alleged that Shell verbally agreed to develop an English-language version of music competition series Serenata De Las Estrellas before later reneging.

Shell had filed a counterclaim alleging defamation and extortion, calling Cipriani’s legal filing a “shakedown.”

“Cipriani’s playbook works like this: use a trusted mutual connection to cosy up to a high-profile target; leech to the fringes of the target’s world while manufacturing the illusion of closeness; falsely claim you have been helping the target from behind the scenes,” said Shell’s lawsuit.

Shell was ultimately cleared by an internal investigation and a Securities and Exchange Commission review. However, PSKY’s board said in April that Shell had “elected to transition from his positions” as president and a member of the board in order to “focus on this lawsuit.”

For Shell, the incident comes around three years after he stepped down from his role as CEO at NBCUniversal following claims of an inappropriate relationship with Hadley Gamble, a reporter at news network CNBC.

He joined David Ellison’s team in 2024 as Skydance executed its protracted takeover of Paramount Global.