Paramount Skydance is removing Jeff Shell from his position as President of the company, following a messy legal battle, according to multiple sources for outlets including Deadline and Variety.
Shell has been the focus of an internal investigation into allegations about sharing private information about the company with outside parties. The claims were made by R.J. Cipriani, who sued both Paramount and Shell, who says Shell owes him $150 million for communication services and claiming that Shell gave him inside information about the Paramount and UFC deal, as well as the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, and other business decisions.
Cipriani says that Shell told him “We’re paying way too much for Warner Bros. If we could just wait another year, we could get it a whole lot cheaper,” according to Deadline.
Shell has filed a counterclaim against Cipriani, claiming extortion, and asserting that he never gave Cipriani any confidential information.
This isn’t Shell’s first time being let go from an executive position. He was fired from his job as CEO of NBCUniversal in 2023 after allegations of an inappropriate relationship with an employee who filed a sexual harassment complaint.