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The high-stakes feud<\/a> between Paramount Skydance President Jeff Shell and Las Vegas gambler and self-professed \u201cfixer\u201d Robert James \u201cR.J.\u201d Cipriani spilled into court on Monday.<\/p>\n Cipriani filed a lawsuit against Shell on claims of fraud and eight other counts, alleging that he reneged on an oral agreement to develop an English-language version of a Spanish music show that streams on Roku TV. <\/p>\n He is seeking $150 million in damages.<\/p>\n In the 67-page lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Cipriani claims that in exchange for providing \u201csophisticated, high-value crisis communications services, entirely without compensation\u201d over 18 months, Shell had agreed to develop the show \u201cSerenata De Las Estrellas,\u201d (Star Serenade), but failed to do so. Cipriani and his wife were to be named as co-executive producers.<\/p>\n \u201cThis case arises from the oldest form of fraud: a powerful man took everything a less powerful man had to offer, promised to repay him, lied to him when he asked about it, and then refused to compensate him at all,\u201d states the complaint.<\/p>\n Cipriani \u2014 who has producer credits on a 2020 documentary about Vegas, \u201cMoney Machine: Behind the Lies,\u201d and the 2015 movie \u201cWild Card\u201d \u2014 intended to make \u201cSerenata\u201d as a \u201clasting legacy for his mother,\u201d Regina, saying the effort \u201chas been the driving force and the most important thing consuming [Cipriani\u2019s] entire life of almost sixty-five years,\u201d according to the suit.<\/p>\n The show was inspired by a song that the Philadelphia-born Cipriani used to sing to his late mother when he was growing up.<\/p>\n The litigation is the latest twist in a simmering behind-the-scenes scandal<\/a> that has left much of Hollywood slack-jawed.<\/p>\n For weeks, Cipriani had threatened to file a lawsuit against Shell, with the potential to derail his comeback at Paramount, three years after he lost his job as NBCUniversal\u2019s chief executive<\/u><\/a> over an inappropriate relationship with an underling.<\/p>\n Cipriani\u2019s suit alleges Shell wasdesperate for help in quelling negative stories about him. <\/p>\n It also portrays him as someone who was indiscreet, allegedly sharing sensitive information during the period when the Ellison family, through Skydance Media, was preparing to close its deal to acquire Paramount and then was actively pursuing Warner Bros. Discovery to add to its growing entertainment and media empire.<\/p>\n The eventual rift between the unlikely pair began in August 2024. Patty Glaser<\/a>, the high-powered entertainment litigator, convened a meeting between the two men.<\/p>\n During the meeting with Shell, the executive expressed to Cipriani his concern that emails and texts between him and Hadley Gamble, the CNBC anchor Shell had been involved with, would come out, saying \u201cthat would absolutely destroy me,\u201d according to the suit.<\/p>\n Cipriani claims in his lawsuit Shell was facing \u201ccatastrophic personal exposure arising from his conduct toward yet another woman in the media industry,\u201d similar to what had prompted his ouster from NBCUniversal<\/a> and that he \u201csolicited\u201d his \u201ccrisis communications services.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the suit, Cipriani was in a position to help him, having engaged in a \u201clongstanding practice of exposing misconduct in the entertainment and media industries.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert James \u201cR.J.\u201d Cipriani in Amazon Prime Video\u2019s 2025 series \u201cCocaine Quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n (Courtesy of Prime)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n A high-rolling blackjack player, Cipriani\u2019s colorful r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes aiding the FBI in the arrest and conviction of USC athlete-turned global drug kingpin<\/u> Owen Hanson,<\/u><\/a> who was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, and filing a RICO suit against Resorts World Las Vegas.<\/p>\n Leveraging his \u201cunique media relationships and industry influence,\u201d Cipriani said in his complaint that he provided Shell with \u201congoing threat-monitoring and intelligence services,\u201d and \u201ctook proactive steps to suppress, redirect, or neutralize\u201d negative coverage against Shell before publication.<\/p>\n Cipriani said Shell expressed \u201ceffusive gratitude\u201d to him after he planted a story about another entertainment industry figure \u201cin order to divert media attention\u201d away from Shell. \u201cThank you thank you thank you,\u201d Shell wrote in a text to Cipriani, according to the lawsuit, which included a copy of the text.<\/p>\n During tense negotiations over Paramount\u2019s streaming rights for the highly successful \u201cSouth Park\u201d franchise last summer, Shell allegedly asked to talk to Cipriani about the matter. Cipriani then \u201corchestrat[ed] the placement of a highly favorable news article,\u201d that was \u201cdevastating to Shell\u2019s and Paramount\u2019s adversaries in the dispute,\u201d the suit states.<\/p>\n After a story published in a Hollywood trade, Cipriani wrote to Shell on WhatsApp, \u201cI\u2019m the one that put the article out for you!!!\u201d and \u201cI didn\u2019t want to tell you till it hit so you have plausible deniability.\u201d <\/p>\n According to a message cited in the lawsuit, Shell responded, \u201cI love you!!!! …Thank you Rj,\u201d adding \u201cI owe you dinner at least!\u201d <\/p>\n Despite those boasts, Paramount ultimately paid \u201cSouth Park\u201d creators millions more<\/a> than Skydance had intended. To remove obstacles from Skydance\u2019s path to buy Paramount, the media company agreed to two blockbuster deals that include paying the \u201cSouth Park\u201d production company more than $1.25 billion to continue the cartoon \u2014 making it one of the richest deals in television history<\/a>.<\/p>\n