Paramount President Jeff Shell, a key member of the management team during the company’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery, did not join Monday’s conference call to discuss the merger.
The exec’s notable absence comes amid an internal probe of his dealings with Robert James “RJ” Cipriani.
Deadline last month broke the news that Shell and his reps are ready to respond if Robert James “RJ” Cipriani makes good on his threat to sue him. The crux of the potential complaint is Cipriani’s allegation that Shell leaked information about corporate doings like Paramount’s $7.7 billion acquisition of UFC rights.
Shell did not take part in the climactic week-and-a-half of negotiations with WBD, according to people familiar with the talks. WBD’s board embraced Paramount’s $111 billion takeover offer after having accepted a proposal from Netflix last December. Paramount raised its offer last week, and Netflix then opted to bow out rather than take part in a bidding war.
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An internal investigation of Shell was launched at the David Ellison-run company. As a part of that, and in keeping with Paramount policy, law firm Gibson Dunn was brought on board. Gibson Dunn litigation partner Nick Hanna, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California during Donald Trump’s first term, is leading the ongoing probe.
Shell officially joined Paramount last summer following the company’s merger with Skydance. The former NBCUniversal CEO had been working with Ellison and other top execs at Skydance for more than a year prior to the deal’s close. He has taken part in a number of conference calls, and was on Paramount’s fourth-quarter earnings call just last week.
Shell was ousted from his NBCU role in 2023 with cause after allegations of “inappropriate conduct” and “sexual harassment” of then-CNBC anchor and correspondent Hadley Gamble.
Jill Goldsmith and Dominic Patten contributed to this report.