Once, when he traveled to London for business, de Grey invited him to Cambridge and took him boating in a punt, a small, flat-bottomed craft that's navigated with a long pole.
"Come be Ned," Mr. Grey told him.
His audience had turned grey with him.
"There was no grey for him: it was either black or white, right or wrong.
Mr. Grey made him an unusual offer: If Mr. Brillstein would teach Mr. Grey about production, Mr. Grey would bring Mr. Brillstein his clients.
Mr. Brillstein, 26 years older, whose clients included the creators of the Muppets and the "Saturday Night Live" cast members, said he felt uncertain at first but Mr. Grey charmed him.
And Mr. Shandling, who had been a longtime friend and client of Mr. Grey, sued him for $100 million a few years ago over conflict of interest accusations, saying Mr. Grey had abused his management role to cut production deals for himself.
He has been known to say that the discovery of a new shade of grey leaves him 'ecstatic', and that people who vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen cannot buy Philippe Starck furniture or Yohji Yamamoto clothes (as if their aesthetic taste were their greatest offence).
One, which he describes as Mr Grey, tells him to harm others and himself, the jury was told.
Shandling later alleged that the clearest proof that Grey was bilking him was that Grey always discouraged him from hiring a lawyer, saying, "Don't you trust me?" Grey says with a faint smile, "If I told Garry Shandling not to get a lawyer, the very first thing he would do is get a lawyer".
Through his lawyer, Shandling says that Grey had invited him to drop by and that he later told Grey the house was "beautiful".
