Paramount Skydance President Jeff Shell was sued Monday by a man who claims Crisis Communications Services and Shell are owed $150 million for refusing to cooperate in producing television programming.
Plaintiff RJ Cipriani alleges in his lawsuit that he had a relationship with Shell for 18 months, during which time Cipriani tipped off Shell about upcoming news stories and provided advice. The complaint also alleges that Shell shared nonpublic information about Paramount’s plans with Cipriani.
Cipriani alleges there was a verbal agreement in which Shell would help produce the TV show Star Serenade in exchange for crisis communications services. The lawsuit also cites secrets Shell allegedly shared with Cipriani, including Shell’s belief that Paramount was overpaying Warner Bros. Discovery.
“We pay Warner Bros. too much money,” he said, the complaint said. “If you would have waited another year, you could have bought it cheaper.”
Paramount Skydance has agreed to acquire WBD in a deal valued at $111 billion.
The lawsuit names Schell and his wife, Laura, as defendants. Paramount, which did not name the company, declined to comment.
When Mr. Cipriani first threatened to sue in February, Mr. Shell’s attorney at the time, Patricia Glaser, said the allegations were baseless.
“We have been presented with a draft complaint full of clear errors of fact and law, as well as threats to file it, but if he erroneously presses the complaint, we will respond strongly,” she said.
Representatives for Shell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
In the lawsuit, Cipriani claims credit for “coordinating” a June 23, 2025 article in The Hollywood Reporter related to the dispute between Shell and “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The complaint alleges the article “exposed the greed” of Parker and Stone, who had accused Shell of interfering in negotiations for South Park streaming rights with third parties.
According to the complaint, after the article was published, Mr. Cipriani informed Mr. Shell of his work by writing to him, “I published the article for you!!!…I didn’t want to say it until it was a hit so you could have a plausible deniability!” Shell is said to have responded, “Thank you, RJ…I’ll at least have dinner with you!”
The suit alleges that Cipriani’s intervention in the matter saved Paramount $1.5 billion.
“Despite this extraordinary profit, Shell has refused to compensate Plaintiffs in any amount,” the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Mr. Cipriani and Mr. Schell met at his attorney’s office on February 2 to resolve the dispute. Shell said it would not pay Cipriani or cooperate with the production of “Star Serenade.”
The suit alleges that during the meeting Mr. Schell expressed disdain for Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and said that Paramount would not retain him after the merger because he considered him an incompetent, Hollywood celebrity-obsessed “son of a bitch.”
According to the complaint, Mr. Cipriani acted as a “whistleblower” and reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that Shell disclosed nonpublic information to Mr. Cipriani. Specifically, nearly a month before this news became public, Shell allegedly told Cipriani about Paramount’s plans to acquire UFC streaming rights for more than $7 billion.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Cipriani suffers from mental distress and physical illness “as a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ prolonged exploitative activities, broken promises, breaches of trust, and conduct described herein.”
Prior to being hired by Paramount, Shell served as Chairman of RedBird Sports & Media since February 2024. RedBird Capital Partners backed Paramount’s acquisition of WBD and also invested in Skydance Media’s deal with Paramount Global.
Prior to that, Shell served as CEO of NBCUniversal. Comcast fired Shell in April 2023 after an internal investigation found that the company had an “inappropriate” relationship with an NBCU employee who had accused Shell of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
Todd Spangler contributed to this article.
