A Vegas gambler, a Hollywood power player and the legal fight roiling Paramount
In August 2024, media executive Jeff Shell made his way to his lawyer’s office in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Century City to meet someone he had been told was behind nasty rumors about him.
Shell had spent the past year patching up his marriage and career, having stepped down as NBCUniversal’s chief executive after a CNBC anchor accused him of sexual harassment. He acknowledged an “inappropriate relationship” with a subordinate. He was preparing to start as president of Paramount, and the last thing he needed was another scandal.
So he and lawyer Patricia Glaser sat down with Robert James “R.J.” Cipriani, a self-professed fixer, whistleblower and professional gambler who had been spreading innuendo about Shell on social media, according to court filings in a continuing legal dispute between the men. The previous month on X, where he posts as Robin Hood 702, Cipriani had suggested that more women were “coming out of the woodwork to allege sexual misbehavior” by Shell.
Glaser, one of the entertainment industry’s top lawyers, had a long relationship with Shell and knew Cipriani through work she had done for him and his wife, actress Greice Santo. She hoped that if the two met, Cipriani would drop his campaign against Shell.
Can Jonah Peretti Save BuzzFeed From Extinction?
Facing financial straits, the founder is betting on a skunkworks for A.I. experiments.
Jonah Peretti, the founder of BuzzFeed, created a viral hitmaker for the millennial generation. His team of writers and videographers hot-wired social media to jump-start posts like “What Colors Are This Dress?” and “Michael B. Jordan Plays With Puppies While Answering Fan Questions.” He and the company were often hailed as the future of the digital media industry.
Now, he just needs to make sure BuzzFeed has a future.
Last week, BuzzFeed told investors that it faced a cash crunch and was at risk of not continuing as a business. The company fell on hard times over the last decade as tech giants siphoned ad dollars away from online publishers, and an attempt to expand through mergers hasn’t paid off. Its stock has cratered since it went public in 2021.