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.”…

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