High-stakes gambler who took down Jeff Shell says he has given ‘bombshell’ story on ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas to Stephen A Smith

Hollywood’s foremost human wrecking ball, er whistleblower, RJ Cipriani, appears to be stirring up more trouble around town after bringing down Paramount president Jeff Shell…

This time, Cipriani says he’s given a bombshell story on former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas — who last week made news by moving his “Gil’s Arena” podcast from Underdog to Playmaker — to ESPN’s $100 million man, Stephen A. Smith.

Smith, we told you yesterday, has stoked jealousy among the rank and file at the Disney-owned sports network thanks to his megadeal at the same time that ESPN and ABC were slashing budgets and planning layoffs.

But it’s hard to tell exactly who Cipriani is really gunning for based on a series of cryptic X posts he made over the past couple of days. “Had a very nice convo tonight at an exclusive hotel bar in Beverly Hills with the audacious [Smith],” Cipriani wrote. “Gave him BIG scoop on Gilbert Arenas.”

We reached out to the high-stakes gambler who sued Shell and the Ellisons at Paramount, and subpoenaed everyone from Ari Emanuel to Jim Berkus, before quietly settling.

Cipriani says he stopped into the Peninsula on Tuesday for a drink with his wife, “Jane the Virgin” actress Greice Santo, when he just happened to spot Smith deep in conversation with an older man. Cipriani approached Smith.

“I told him that the New York feds are investigating Arenas and his connection to organized crime, and I thought he would be interested,” Cipriani tells Page Six Hollywood. “But he said it would seem like he was ratting on someone. I said, ‘You know, you are a journalist and should look into it. That’s what journalists do.'”

But Smith tells us a very different version of events. “This is a flat-out lie. I said nothing but exchange pleasantries when he came over to introduce himself while I was with one of my boys — who will not hesitate to confirm this if necessary,” Smith says. “That is all I have to say about this nonsense.”

Either way, the feds looking into Arenas isn’t exactly a top-secret tip. The DOJ’s own website has plenty of details in a press release with the blaring headline “Former NBA Star, Suspected Israeli Crime Figure Arrested on Federal Indictment Alleging High-Stakes Illegal Poker Games at Encino Mansion.” (Arenas pleaded not guilty and is expected to stand trial in November.)

Last year, Arenas’ lawyer commented, according to CNN, following his client’s arrest: “At this point in the case, he is presumed innocent, right… He has the same right as any other citizen to that presumption and that’s how he should be treated.”

(It’s worth noting that Emanuel’s WME negotiated Smith’s $100 million five-year deal with ESPN, and the mogul was one of Cipriani’s previous, peripheral obsessions in the Shell imbroglio.)

No one can say Smith wasn’t warned that he was talking to someone with a… history.

According to Cipriani, the older man at the Peninsula kept trying to show Smith something important on his phone. When Cipriani caught a glimpse of what was on the screen, it was an article about… Cipriani.

Perhaps the link was to one of Page Six Hollywood’s doozies covering the Vegas hustler’s dramatic showdown with Shell and half the town.

Emanuel declined comment.