First Ari Emanuel. Now UTA co-founder and senior partner Jim Berkus has been dragged into the RJ Cipriani-Jeff Shell legal drama.
Sources tell Page Six Hollywood that Berkus has been subpoenaed by Cipriani’s attorneys who previously hit Emanuel with an order to appear for a deposition at their Beverly Hills law offices.
Emanuel’s subpoena wasn’t a total surprise given that the WME and TKO chief is repeatedly referenced in Cipriani’s March 9 lawsuit against Shell — the now former president of Paramount Skydance after stepping down earlier this month. In fact, text messages between Cipriani and Emanuel are peppered throughout the lawsuit that was filed in LA Superior Court, as well as Shell’s countercomplaint.
But this marks the first time Berkus has surfaced in the saga. A court filing obtained by Page Six Hollywood would seem to indicate that Berkus was involved with the representation of “Star Serenade,” the now infamous reality show created by Cipriani and his wife, actress Greice Santo, that was oddly at the center of the legal morass. (We couldn’t help but wonder why Berkus, who reps titans like Harrison Ford, the Coen Bros. and Wes Anderson toiled away on a tiny Roku reality show in need of a new streaming home for its Season 2.) We reached out to UTA for comment.
The subpoena calls for Berkus to hand over “all pitches, treatments, decks, synopses, or scripts YOU personally handled” as well as “all personal COMMUNICATIONS with any network, streaming platform, or studio regarding the development, packaging, licensing, or placement of STAR SERENADE, including PARAMOUNT, Roku, Netflix, Amazon Studios, and Apple TV+.”
Hmm.
Aaronoff also wants to ask about Berkus’ conversations with Aaronoff’s former colleague — and our favorite Hollywood “Zelig” character— attorney Patricia Glaser, as well as Glaser Weil attorneys James Schreier and Barry Fink “regarding CIPRIANI’s representation, any proposed agreement between CIPRIANI and any DEFENDANT, or any conflict of interest or dual representation by GLASER WEIL.” (As we previously reported, Glaser played a variety of roles in the saga including representing both Shell and Cipriani and allegedly trying to broker a seven-figure settlement that would indemnify the entire Paramount crew.)
Berkus isn’t the only member of his family to be pulled into this conflagration. His son Jordan, an agent at UTA who reps Logan Lerman and Paul Bettany, received a similar subpoena as did agency partner Andrew Lear (whose clients include Sherri Shepherd and Rainn Wilson).
Aaronoff did not comment on the latest twist.
Says one industry source close to Cipriani: “RJ is like, ‘I’ll burn down everybody’s house.’”