Jeff Shell Sued by Whistleblower Who Sparked Paramount Investigation Over TV Deal

Jeff Shell has been sued by a former public relations advisor who says the Paramount Skydance president reneged on a deal involving a TV show.

R.J. Cipriani, in a lawsuit filed on Monday in California state court, alleges Shell promised to pick up an English-language format of a Roku reality show he co-created and exec produced as payment for providing crisis communication services. He brings claims for breach of oral contract and fraud, among several others, and says he’s owed at least $150 million.

Cipriani, a high-stakes gambler at the center of the dispute, sparked the internal investigation and SEC inquiry into Shell for improperly disclosing details about the timing and structure of Paramount’s $7.7 billion media rights deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship almost a month before its August 2025 announcement.

In the lawsuit, Cipriani says Shell shared with him confidential information, with the aim of suppressing negative stories about him and circulating favorable coverage for the company. One example: Shell last year solicited his advice on wrangling between Paramount Global and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone on a new streaming deal, according to the complaint. Cipriani says he was involved in a story in The Hollywood Reporter exploring the fight, saying he shifted the public narrative in Paramount’s favor and saved the company $1.5 billion.

“I’m the one that put the article out for you!!! I didn’t want to tell you till it hit so you have plausible deniability,” Cipriani texted Shell after the story published, per the lawsuit.

Their relationship soured when Shell didn’t follow through on an alleged agreement to pick up Roku’s Spanish-language series Serenata De Las Estrellas, in which Latin acts like Ozomatli and Los Lobos perform surprise mini-concerts for fans who’ve gone through tough times, the lawsuit says.

During a meeting earlier this year arranged by Patricia Glaser, who represented the men in unrelated matters, Cipriani alleges that Shell refused to compensate him for 18 months of work. After those talks broke down, Glaser offered him $150,000 of her own money to resolve the dispute, the lawsuit says. Cipriani alleges the high-powered lawyer had a conflict of interest brokering those discussions.

When asked for a comment on the dispute last month, Glaser said she was threatened with a lawsuit “riddled with clear errors of fact and law.” She added, “If he makes the mistake of going ahead with it, we will strongly respond.”

Other confidential information Shell is alleged to have shared with Cipriani: Talks with UFC on a $7.7 billion media rights deal and Paramount’s intention to up its hostile tender offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to $30 per share in cash, with additional financing commitments.

According to the complaint, Shell said in a message to Cipriani: “We are buying ALL of the UFC rights for the next 7 years for Paramount. Netflix thought they had it. $7 billion +. Everything… numbered events currently PPV and all of their fight nights Exclusive. We will put it on P+ and CBS. Embargo until after Netflix earnings.”

On the WBD deal, Shell wrote, “We’re paying way too much for Warner Bros. If we could just wait another year, we could get it a whole lot cheaper.”

Cipriani alleges these disclosures constitute SEC violations. He says he informed Paramount about the purported confidential information breach, which Gibson Dunn partner Nick Hanna, a former federal prosecutor, is now investigating.

Shell has been a key face of the new regime at Paramount since the acquisition from Shari Redstone in 2025.