Yahoo Finance Jeff Bezos claims tabloid tried to blackmail him with explicit pics
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos has released emails he claimed to have received from US tabloid The National Enquirer, in which the publication is shown to be extorting him.
The alleged emails show the outlet threatening to release a series of texts and photos he sent to his current girlfriend Lauren Sanchez while still married to MacKenzie Bezos.
The Bezos announced their divorce earlier this year.
OK, give me the background
The National Enquirer previously published an expose on Sanchez’ and Bezos’ relationship.
In a post on Medium today, Bezos claimed the chief executive of American Media Inc. (AMI) – which owns The National Enquirer – David Pecker, threatened to publish explicit photos of him and Sanchez.
Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, claimed the threat originated from Pecker’s wish to halt speculation that The National Enquirer’s coverage of his affair with Sanchez had been politically motivated.
Bezos has publicly criticized the Trump administration on numerous occasions, as has the Washington Post.
In exchange for the non-publication, Bezos would make a statement that he and Gavin de Becker, who led the investigation into whether The National Enquirer’s coverage was politically motivated, and how they obtained Bezos’ private information, had no basis for “suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces”.
He would also stop the probe into the media company and its political links.
However, Bezos said that “rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I’ve decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten”.
Bezos claimed AMI had approached him and his lawyers with verbal threats to expose photos, but his lawyers argued AMI had no right to publish the photos.
Bezos alleges AMI then moved on to written threats, which he shared in the Medium post:
“Any personal embarrassment AMI could cause me takes a back seat because there’s a much more important matter involved here. If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?
“These communications cement AMI’s long-earned reputation for weaponising journalistic privileges, hiding behind important protections, and ignoring the tenets and purpose of true journalism.
“Of course I don’t want personal photos published, but I also won’t participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favours, political attacks, and corruption. I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out.”
Political motivations?
Republican President Donald Trump and Bezos have crossed swords in the past, with Trump criticising both the Washington Post and Amazon, which Bezos owns.
In the Medium post, Bezos references Pecker’s relationship with Trump. According to the New York Times, Trump and Pecker dined together to celebrate him winning the presidency.
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