‘Death threats’ over ‘South Park,’ 24 hour security and ‘extortion’ plot — explosive lawsuit exposes Hollywood’s underbelly

Like a twist out of an old Hollywood noir movie, the president of Paramount filed a bombshell lawsuit the day after the Oscars — alleging that he’s being shaken down by “an inveterate gambler” who “overplayed his hand.”

Paramount Skydance president Jeff Shell has countersued Las Vegas and Hollywood fixer RJ Cipriani — claiming in court docs that Cipriani overstated his association with Shell as a crisis PR whiz to bleed money from the mogul.

Cipriani is already suing Shell for $150M — but Shell now says in court docs that the Cipriani “playbook” somehow coincided with death threats over a “South Park” negotiation, mysterious calls in the night and an old rival rearing his head, too, as part of the “shakedown.”

According to the lawsuit filed Monday afternoon in LA Superior Court, Cipriani used “a trusted mutual connection” via Hollywood power lawyer Patricia Glaser “to cozy up to a high-profile target” — i.e., Shell — and then “leech to the fringes of the target’s world while manufacturing the illusion of closeness; falsely claim you have been helping the target from behind the scenes; then strike — demand compensation for your unsolicited efforts and, if not paid, weaponize that fiction, and the added threat of public exposure of equally false and salacious lies, to extract a massive payday.”

But as with everything surrounding this legal drama, it’s the subplots that are most jaw-dropping. And there are several contained in Shell’s 181-page complaint. For one, Shell allegedly faced death threats amid contentious negotiations over “South Park,” not a typical byproduct of even the fiercest dealmaking.

According to his own lawsuit, “Shell had been receiving death threats as a result of the dispute and needed a 24/7 security detail” and thus asked Cipriani for “guidance.” (Parmount declined comment on the alleged death threats that preceded its $1.5 billion deal for streaming rights to the animated series.)

Cipriani’s lawsuit previously included text exchanges that appear to show Shell pleased with a story in The Hollywood Reporter covering the negotiations, writing “I love you!!!! The hunter Biden thing is awesome. Thank you.” That story depicts attorney Kevin Morris, the longtime dealmaker for “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, in an unflattering light, dubbing him “a nationally known figure for his years-long legal and financial support for Hunter Biden.” (Attorney Bryan Freedman, who represented the “South Park” creators while they mulled litigation, did not respond to a request for comment.)

Monday’s suit also chronicles a series of curious phone calls Shell allegedly received from former NBCUniversal honcho Ron Meyer.

The two men have a bitter backstory given that Shell ousted Meyer in 2022 for having an undisclosed sexual relationship with actress Charlotte Kirk. Adding to the tangled loyalties, Cipriani and Meyer are close friends, and Page Six Hollywood previously reported that Glaser enlisted Cipriani to broker a détente between Shell and Meyer. (Glaser didn’t respond to a request for comment.) The alleged Meyer phone calls came at a time when talks between Cipriani and Shell were falling apart.

“Meyer told Shell that he might be able to convince Cipriani to reduce the amount of his demand. Shell was not interested. The next day, … Meyer called Shell again and informed him that Cipriani had been looking for at least $10 million, but that Meyer might be able to get him to accept $5 million to withdraw his threats,” the lawsuit says. “Shell told Meyer he would not pay Cipriani a cent. On one of these calls, Meyer warned Shell that Cipriani was a ‘bad guy’ who could ‘make lots of trouble’ for Shell if Shell did not pay. Meyer tried to contact Shell on at least three more occasions. He left two voicemails, and Meyer’s assistant also texted Shell, urging Shell to call Meyer. Shell did not return his calls.” (Meyer did not respond to a request for comment.)