April 8 (Reuters) – Paramount Skydance said on Wednesday that Jeff Shell is stepping down as the company’s president and board member amid allegations that he violated U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules.
Shell became president overseeing day-to-day operations when Paramount Global completed its merger with Skydance Media last year.
Las Vegas gambler and FBI informant R.J. Cipriani had accused Shell of breaking a promise to develop a music show, suing him for $150 million. Shell filed a countersuit against Cipriani last month, alleging extortion and defamation, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In the 67-page lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Cipriani reportedly claimed that in exchange for providing “sophisticated, high-value crisis communications services, entirely without compensation” over 18 months, Shell had agreed to develop the show “Serenata De Las Estrellas”, but failed to do so.
Paramount said it had conducted a review of the allegations raised in a recently filed civil complaint and that the “facts demonstrated that these allegations do not establish a securities law violation.”
Shell is stepping down to focus on the lawsuit, Paramount added.
He was fired as chief executive of Comcast’s NBCUniversal in April 2023 amid allegations of inappropriate conduct with a female CNBC reporter, according to Deadline, which first reported his removal from Paramount after weeks of legal wrangling following allegations of indiscretion.
Previously, law firm Gibson Dunn appeared to have cleared Shell of Cipriani’s claim that the executive had leaked confidential and potentially explosive information, according to the Deadline report.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Pooja Desai and Maju Samuel)
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