Shahs of Sunset star Mike Shouhed hashed out a settlement with ex-fiancėe Paulina Ben-Cohen, which will dismiss her assault lawsuit, Us Weekly can exclusively report.
On September 11, Ben-Cohen’s lawyers informed the court that the parties reached a settlement. The lawsuit will be dismissed by Ben-Cohen once all terms of the deal are completed.
Ben-Cohen said she plans to dismiss the case by December 9. The settlement comes days before Shouhed and Ben-Cohen were set to face off in court at a trial in the lawsuit.
Shouhed’s lawyer, Reza Sina, tells Us, “We are happy to have worked together to resolve the final piece of these unfortunate events and move on.”
Back in March 2024, Ben-Cohen filed her lawsuit against Shouhed over an alleged March 2022 incident. In her lawsuit, she claimed Shouhed was liable for “viciously, brutally and repeatedly” assaulting and battering her.
Ben-Cohen claimed the alleged assault happened at their home with her kid in a nearby room. She said Shouhed started yelling profanities at her and called her a “slut.” She said she asked Shouhed to leave the home, but he refused. The court docs claim Ben-Cohen tried to pack up Shouhed’s stuff to get him out of the home. She claimed this led to him grabbing her hair and “violently” throwing her to the ground.
“As [Ben-Cohen] was lying on the floor, underneath the clothing rack that had come down on top of her body after [Shouhed] violently threw her to the ground, [Shouhed] bent over her, struck her in the face, and then put his hand over her face and tried to suffocate her as she writhed on the ground and struggled to breathe,” Ben-Cohen’s lawyer wrote in the lawsuit.
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Ben-Cohen included screenshots of alleged security video footage from inside the home. She claimed Shouhed continued to assault her in another room of the home. She said he grabbed her right wrist with his left hand, kept her right hand over her mouth and suffocated her for six seconds. She said he shoved her onto a bike that was lying on the floor. Ben-Cohen claimed Shouhed left and then came back to assault her more.
Ben-Cohen’s lawsuit alleged, “Nearly four minutes after [Shouhed] initiated his series of vicious and brutal attacks on [Ben-Cohen], this harrowing incident finally came to an end. [Ben-Cohen] had screamed for the nanny who was staying in a room on the other side of the house while [Shouhed] was assaulting and battering her in the playroom, in hopes the nanny would hear her and come to her aid.”
“When the nanny did come, the nanny asked [Shouhed] to leave and return when he was calm. This only angered [Shouhed] further, and he stated something to the effect of he was never leaving the house and it was his house. After [Shouhed] went upstairs to retrieve one of his firearms, the police were called, came to the residence, and arrested [Shouhed].”
The suit also claimed Shouhed threatened to hire a hitman “who would put her away.”
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Shouhed denied all allegations of wrongdoing. He argued his ex’s own actions stopped her from seeking damages. He claimed any injury she suffered was the result of her own actions or other entities other than him.
Shouhed faced 13 criminal charges over the alleged assault but worked out a plea deal with prosecutors and avoided jail time.
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He was ordered to complete anger management classes and complete community service hours.
In May, Bravo announced The Valley: Persian Style, a spinoff of Shahs of Sunset, but Shouhed was not announced as one of the returning cast members.
