Larry Ellison’s incredible nickname revealed in Hollywood’s bombshell legal drama

When reading a 316-page legal filing, sometimes a first pass isn’t enough! 

So with fresh eyes, Page Six Hollywood dove back into Tuesday’s amended complaint in the RJ Cipriani v. Jeff Shell et al. legal morass, and one sentence in particular caught our eye — perhaps the best one of all.  

In a footnote, Cipriani’s lawyers write: “Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Lawrence Ellison, among certain of his close friends, is known by the nickname ‘Bad Doggy.’”

Bad Doggy!?!

But exactly what does that mean? Which close friends? A Paramount Skydance spokesperson declined comment. Cipriani’s attorney — who’s been quick with a spicy quote up until now — didn’t respond to our request for comment. Perhaps he has been muzzled, pun intended?

Ellison is of course the Oracle founder who on any given day can be among the top five richest people in the world. A Google search shows that Ellison has been nicknamed “The Shark” in some obscure corners of the Internet for his aggressive investment style, but there seems to be no public documentation — until now — that he’s been known as “Bad Doggy.”

“Bad Doggy” isn’t the first strange moniker to emerge in this sordid legal mess that began when Cipriani filed suit against Shell on March 9 and then added a list of the town’s powerbrokers as co-defendants on March 17. 

We previously reported that a litigation hold letter sent to WME, and obtained by us, referenced a mysterious man named “Tango,” who, by all accounts, isn’t a Hollywood powerbroker. 

The otherwise standard letter notified Ari Emanuel to retain all correspondence with seemingly relevant parties like Paramount and the UFC. (Cipriani’s original lawsuit included What’s App exchanges between him and Shell discussing a $7 billion-plus deal Paramount was negotiating, allegedly before it was public, and Emanuel is mentioned.) But the same letter also demanded that Emanuel save all correspondence with Angelo DiMascio, a Rhode Island business owner with a long rap sheet and filmography. 

Given that “Tango” stood out in the letter, we started sleuthing, and, according to public records, Emanuel and DiMascio lived at the same mid-Wilshire address in the mid-1990s.

Then, of course, there’s the man at the center of the drama: Cipriani. Naturally, the high-stakes gambler goes by the nickname Robin Hood 702. Cipriani apparently staked out that handle because 702 is the area code for Vegas and, in his own words, he plans to give away any settlement in his $150 million lawsuit to “help the less fortunate people around the globe.” Get it?