Jeff Shell Countersues R.J. Cipriani for Extortion
Credit: Peter Harrison/Flickr
Paramount President Jeff Shell countersued jilted ex-acquaintance R.J. ‘Robin Hood 702’ Cipriani, alleging that the high-profile Las Vegas gambler concocted an extortion plot against him.
The L.A. Times reported on the countersuit on Monday, exactly one week after news of Cipriani’s lawsuit hit the wire. Cipriani sought at least $150 million in damages. He alleged that Shell profited considerably from Cipriani’s media and public relations skills, utilizing his expertise for 18 months without compensating him.
Additionally, Shell denied that he shared corporate secrets with Cipriani. Text messages produced by Cipriani in the lawsuit appeared to confirm that Shell had disclosed non-public, material information to Cipriani about Paramount securing the rights to broadcast Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Shell Says He Never Agreed to Help Cipriani
According to Cipriani, Shell had agreed to use his own prominent position at Paramount to help Cipriani produce an English version of a Spanish-language TV show. Shell’s suit says that no such agreement was ever in place.
“Cipriani’s playbook works like this: use a trusted mutual connection to cozy up to a high-profile target; leech to the fringes of the target’s world while manufacturing the illusion of closeness; falsely claim you have been helping the target from behind the scenes,” the countersuit said.
Shell’s lawsuit also contends that Cipriani fabricated or altered the texts in which Shell appeared to disclose the insider information:
“He placed a high-stakes bet that, if he concocted an utterly false tale that Shell had disclosed confidential details about Paramount’s business, Shell would pay Cipriani a ransom to keep him from going public with his heinous lies.”
Cipriani’s lawsuit included screenshots of his messages on WhatsApp. The text thread appeared to show Shell breaking news of Paramount outmaneuvering Netflix for the UFC contract. Shell called the situation “hush hush” in the texts.
According to the L.A. Times report, Paramount has hired a law firm to investigate whether Shell did, in fact, disclose sensitive information.
Cipriani Maintains His Agreement With Shell Was Verbal
While Cipriani produced text messages that he said prove Shell’s guilt regarding the insider information charges, he did not include in the lawsuit anything corroborating his claim that Shell agreed to help him create the TV show. On that note, contends that the agreement was a “verbal pledge.”
“Shell contends that he never agreed to hire Cipriani and that it wasn’t clear what, if any, services Cipriani provided,” the L.A. Times story says.
Shell’s side of the story characterizes the relationship as one-sided, saying Cipriani “kept popping up, uninvited,” on Shell’s phone.
In Cipriani’s lawsuit, he claimed he helped Shell and Paramount save $1.5 billion in a high-profile dispute with Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park. However, his own texts acknowledge that he maneuvered to have certain articles published in the media without Shell’s knowledge, shifting the public narrative while giving Shell plausible deniability.
Shell acknowledged in his lawsuit that he reached out to Cipriani about the situation. But the suit maintains that Shell only asked for advice on dealing with death threats and employing a security detail. When Cipriani offered to engineer a threat to the South Park creators’ lawyer, Shell became “uncomfortable,” according to his lawsuit.
Image credit: Peter Harrison/Flickr (license)
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