Jeff Shell has sued a self-deputized crisis communications adviser for extortion and defamation, a countermove to an earlier lawsuit accusing the Paramount Skydance president of reneging on a deal involving a TV show.

Shell, in a cross complaint filed on Monday in California state court, alleges the adviser, R.J. Cipriani, threatened to falsely accuse him of violating federal securities laws involving Paramount’s $7.7 billion UFC media rights deal if he didn’t comply with demands. He says Cipriani has been advancing an “utterly false tale” that the exec improperly disclosed confidential details about the company’ business dealings in an “extortionate campaign” to leverage a lucrative settlement.

Cipriani, the high-stakes gambler at the center of the dispute, sparked an internal investigation and SEC inquiry into Shell for allegedly disclosing details about the timing and structure of the UFC deal almost a month before its August 2025 announcement. Before that, he had had...

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