A Las Vegas gambler has added Paramount Skydance and Larry and David Ellison to his lawsuit against executive Jeff Shell, escalating a dispute over purported off-the-books PR services.
R.J. Cipriani sued Shell, the president of Paramount, last week, claiming he is owed $150 million for services performed under an unwritten contract for crisis communications services. Shell fired back on Monday, accusing Cipriani of defamation and extortion and of seeking to exploit their fleeting association to extract an undeserved payday.
In an amended complaint on Tuesday, Cipriani added Paramount, the Ellisons, RedBird Capital and the members of the Paramount board to the list of defendants, accusing them of negligent supervision of Shell.
“Paramount is aware of the frivolous lawsuit and believes the claims are entirely without merit,” a Paramount spokesperson said in a statement. “There is no factual or legal basis for any claim against Paramount, its directors or its major shareholders, and the company intends to defend these allegations vigorously.”
Cipriani has alleged that he helped Shell by offering strategic advice and orchestrating a Hollywood Reporter article about Shell’s dispute with Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of “South Park.” In the latter instance, Cipriani alleges that his intervention in the matter — which he disclosed to Shell after the article appeared — saved Paramount $1.5 billion.
The original lawsuit also quoted Shell as saying in a meeting that Paramount Skydance is overpaying for Warner Bros. The amended complaint adds an additional quotation, saying that President Trump assured Larry Ellison that he would intervene in Netflix’s deal for the company.
According to the complaint, Shell recounted to Cipriani the substance of the interaction, in which the president is alleged to have said, “Larry, it looks like Netflix is gonna get Warner Bros., but if you really really want it, Larry, I’ll make sure you get it.”
Cipriani has also accused Shell of disclosing to him non-public information about Paramount’s activities, a charge that Shell has denied.
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