Paramount Skydance President Jeff Shell is reportedly negotiating his exit after being accused in a bombshell lawsuit by a high-stakes gambler and self-described fixer of leaking confidential corporate information.
Shell is in talks about his departure after less than a year on the job, which he landed following Paramount’s merger with Skydance, the Status newsletter reported.
The potential exit would mark another blow for the former NBCUniversal boss, who was fired in 2023 after an internal investigation found he had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, then-CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble.
Shell’s troubles with his current employer went into overdrive after RJ Cipriani, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based gambler, filed a lawsuit against him alleging that he leaked confidential, market-moving corporate information and reneged on a deal for months of unpaid crisis communications work.
Shell has denied wrongdoing, and his legal team has blasted the claims as false and defamatory.
The litigation is ongoing, and the allegations have not been proven in court.
Paramount has launched an internal investigation into the claims, which is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks, according to reports.
A source familiar with the situation said Paramount launched an external investigation after the Cipriani allegations surfaced — a process that Jeff Shell himself alerted the company to — and that no final decisions about his future will be made until the probe concludes.
The source added that while there have been preliminary discussions about Shell’s role, describing his exit as a done deal would be premature, noting the situation remains fluid pending the findings.
Cipriani’s lawyer, Steven Aaronoff, told The Post he does not expect Paramount to outright fire Shell, arguing the company instead may strip him of power.
“I don’t think that they’re going to fire Jeff Shell … but I think they will defang him,” Aaronoff said.
Aaronoff claimed that removing Shell entirely could undercut Paramount’s legal position as it fights the lawsuit.
“If they fire him, that’s an admission that I was right,” Aaronoff said, referring to the allegations laid out in his complaint.
Aaronoff was blunt in his assessment of Shell’s prospects.
“He’s not staying,” the attorney said, arguing the latest controversy makes Shell “a two-time loser” following his earlier ouster from NBCUniversal.
Cipriani claims he provided Shell 18 months of public-relations consulting that included planting favorable media coverage and steering negative stories away from the executive — all without pay.
In return, Shell allegedly promised to use his clout at Paramount to develop a TV project tied to Cipriani’s late mother — a deal the lawsuit says was never honored.
The complaint also accuses Shell of sharing closely held corporate secrets, including details of Paramount’s $7 billion UFC rights deal weeks before it was announced and internal strategy around its blockbuster bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
In one alleged remark, Shell told Cipriani the company was “paying way too much” for WBD and could get it “a whole lot cheaper” if it waited —- a statement the lawsuit frames as disclosure of sensitive internal deliberations.
Cipriani further alleges that Shell dangled false assurances about backing his TV concept, at one point blaming a so-called staff review that never actually happened — what the lawsuit describes as a “phantom staffer” excuse used to string him along.
When Cipriani pressed for payment or progress, Shell allegedly refused — with his lawyer later offering $150,000 out of pocket to quietly settle the dispute, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also includes eyebrow-raising personal claims, alleging Shell privately feared the release of messages tied to his past relationship with Gamble would “absolutely destroy” him.
And in a further twist, Cipriani accused Shell of moving assets into his wife’s name to shield them from potential claims — an allegation that forms the basis of a separate fraud-related count in the suit.
Inside Paramount, the Cipriani lawsuit appears to have been the tipping point, according to Status.
The newsletter reported that the legal battle worsened existing tensions around Shell — including concerns about leaks and his standing with colleagues — ultimately pushing Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison and his team toward parting ways with the exec.
The turmoil comes at a delicate moment for Paramount, as Ellison seeks approval for his mega-deal to acquire WBD.
“This is a terrible look for Paramount,” Jason Greer, a labor and employee relations expert known as “The Employee Whisperer,” told The Post.
“When you have a senior executive like Jeff Shell leaking confidential information of this caliber to outside sources it usually means two things – Shell’s relationship with RJ Cipriani left him extremely compromised [and] Paramount is a proverbial leaking ship, meaning that internal, secret information is likely being leaked from multiple sources.”
Shell and a Paramount spokesperson declined to comment.
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