Brad Grey, chief of Paramount Pictures, testified Thursday in the ongoing Anthony Pellicano trial for wiretapping that he had not been aware of illegal tactics employed by the former private investigator while working on two lawsuits filed against his company.

Brad Grey had been comedian Garry Shandling’s manager for many years when he hired prominent entertainment lawyer Bert Fields, a partner at the Greenberg Glusker law firm, to defend him against the $100 million lawsuit filed by the actor over proceeds from “The Larry Sanders Show,” the Associated Press reports.

Grey testified Thursday in the federal wiretapping trial against former A-list investigator Anthony Pellicano and four others, including a former Los Angeles Police detective, a software engineer, a former telephone company employee and a former client of the investigator. All five men have pleaded not guilty.

Grey testified that he understood at the time that Fields had worked with Pellicano before and that he had been very pleased with his services. Fields hired the private detective to work on the case against Grey’s company, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment.

“I understand Mr. Fields had used the services of Mr. Pellicano many times before that,” the studio exec testified. He added that he did not learn the details of the case as the lawyers took care of it.

Grey also testified that he had known of no illegal tactics used by the former private eye in another lawsuit filed against him by aspiring screenwriter Vincent “Bo” Zenga over screenwriting credits for the 2000 film “Scary Movie.” Pellicano was again hired through Fields.

Pellicano is accused of wiretapping Zenga’s telephone conversations with his attorneys during the lawsuit.

When Assistant U. S. Attorney Kevin Lally asked Grey whether he was assured by Fields that Pellicano used legal methods in his investigations, Grey answered: “My understanding was that Mr. Fields was very confident in Mr. Pellicano as a private investigator. I don't think we ever had a conversation about illegal acts. It just never came up.”

Pellicano, who is acting as his own attorney, chose to not cross-examine Grey.

Shandling testified last week that he had been the victim of an “incredibly intense” smear campaign conducted by Grey, Fields and Pellicano, after he filed a $100 million lawsuit against Fields, his longtime manager, in 1997.

Prosecutors showed Shandling documents which proved his personal information had been searched for in police databases four times in 1999, by a former Los Angeles police sergeant allegedly bribed by Pellicano.

The lawsuit against Grey’s company was settled in July 1999 for a reported $10 million, the AP adds.

Pellicano is accused of organizing a racketeering scheme that involved illegal wiretapping and bribery in order to dig up “dirt” that would serve his clients in their lawsuits.