Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Bezos Says Enquirer Threatened to Publish Revealing Pics
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
February 8, 2019

Share

LOS ANGELES — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Thursday he was the target of “extortion and blackmail” by the publisher of the National Enquirer, which he said threatened to publish revealing personal photos of him unless he stopped investigating how the tabloid obtained his private exchanges with his mistress.

“Of course I don’t want personal photos published, but I also won’t participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption. I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out.” — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos 
Bezos, who is also owner of The Washington Post, detailed his interactions with American Media Inc., or AMI, in an extraordinary blog post Thursday on Medium.com. The billionaire did not say the tabloid was seeking money — instead, he said, the Enquirer wanted him to make a public statement that the tabloid’s coverage was not politically motivated.
Bezos’ accusations add another twist to a high-profile clash between the world’s richest man and the leader of America’s best-known tabloid, a strong backer of President Donald Trump. Bezos’ investigators have suggested the Enquirer’s coverage of his affair — which included the release of risque texts — was driven by dirty politics.
“Of course I don’t want personal photos published, but I also won’t participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption,” Bezos wrote of AMI, in explaining his decision to go public. “I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out.”
A spokesman and an attorney for AMI did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

David Pecker Was ‘Apoplectic’ About the Investigation

But the company has admitted in the past that it engaged in what’s known as “catch-and-kill” practices to help Trump become president. Trump has been highly critical of Bezos and the Post’s coverage of the White House.
The Bezos affair became public when the Enquirer published a Jan. 9 story about his relationship with Lauren Sanchez, a former TV anchor who is also married. Bezos then hired a team of private investigators to find out how the tabloid got the texts and photos the two exchanged.
Several days ago, someone at AMI told Bezos’ team that the company’s CEO David Pecker was “apoplectic” about the investigation, Bezos said. AMI later approached Bezos’ representatives with an offer.
“They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn’t stop our investigation,” Bezos wrote.
Bezos wrote that this week, the tabloid’s editor, Dylan Howard, emailed an attorney for Bezos’ longtime security consultant to describe photos the Enquirer “obtained during our newsgathering.” The photos include a “below the belt selfie” of Bezos, photos of him in tight boxer-briefs and wearing only a towel, and several revealing photos of Sanchez, according to the emails Bezos released.
According to the emails, an attorney for AMI offered a formal deal Wednesday: The tabloid wouldn’t post the photos if Bezos and his investigators would release a public statement “affirming that they have no knowledge or basis” to suggest the Enquirer’s coverage was “politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”

Bezos Usually Stays out of the Public Eye

Bezos said he decided to publish the emails sent to his team “rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail,” despite the “personal cost and embarrassment they threaten.”

It reported that Bezos sent “sleazy text messages and gushing love notes” to Sanchez, months before Bezos announced he was splitting up with his wife, MacKenzie. The story carries the bylines of Howard and two reporters.
It does not appear that AMI demanded any money from Bezos — only that he call off his investigation and issue a statement saying the coverage wasn’t political.
In its Jan. 9 story, the Enquirer said reporters followed Bezos and Sanchez “across five states and 40,000 miles” and “tailed them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and ‘quality time’ in hidden love nests.”
It reported that Bezos sent “sleazy text messages and gushing love notes” to Sanchez, months before Bezos announced he was splitting up with his wife, MacKenzie. The story carries the bylines of Howard and two reporters.
But Bezos was suspicious about how the tabloid could have possibly gotten access to his private exchanges.
Bezos usually stays out of the public eye, frequently delegating announcements and public Amazon business updates to his executives. He doesn’t even speak on the company’s quarterly financial earnings call with analysts.
His personal investigators, led by his longtime security consultant, Gavin de Becker, concluded that Bezos’ phone wasn’t hacked. Instead, they’ve been focusing on Sanchez’s brother, according to a person familiar with the matter.

AMI Acknowledged Secretly Assisting Trump’s Campaign

De Becker and his team suspect Michael Sanchez, a talent manager who touts his support of Trump and is an acquaintance of Trump allies Roger Stone and Carter Page, may have provided the information to the Enquirer, the person said. The person wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sanchez, who is also his sister’s manager, has declined to speak with The Associated Press on the record and did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday. In a tweet, he said de Becker “spreads fake, unhinged conservative conspiracy theories” and “‘dog whistle’ smears.”
AMI’s relationship with Trump has gotten the company into hot water in the past. It admitted to “catch-and-kill” practices as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, who agreed to not pursue charges against the company.
AMI acknowledged secretly assisting Trump’s campaign by paying $150,000 to a Playboy model for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with the then-candidate. The company then intentionally suppressed the story until after the 2016 election.
In September, the Justice Department agreed to a non-prosecution agreement with AMI, which requires the company and some top executives, including Pecker and Howard, to cooperate with authorities.

It Is a Federal Crime to Threaten to Injure Someone’s Reputation

De Becker is now trying to find a way that federal prosecutors in Manhattan — where the non-prosecution agreement was signed — could investigate the text message scandal, the person familiar with the matter said, though it wasn’t immediately clear what, if any, crime the prosecutors would be asked to look into.

“It shows how complicated and dangerous it is to make an agreement with National Enquirer. They may have to cooperate, but they’re continuing in their ongoing battle with Bezos and others.” — Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor
It is a federal crime to threaten to injure someone’s reputation in exchange for money or a “thing of value,” though federal courts haven’t made it directly clear whether a public statement, like the one demanded by AMI, could be considered something of value.
Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the allegations potentially put prosecutors in an awkward position because of the deal they had already cut with AMI.
“It shows how complicated and dangerous it is to make an agreement with National Enquirer,” Levenson said. “They may have to cooperate, but they’re continuing in their ongoing battle with Bezos and others.”
But Levenson said it was too difficult to tell if the case amounted to blackmail or extortion without additional context and some prosecutors may be reluctant to charge someone for threatening another with embarrassing material.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

DON'T MISS

Judge Partly Blocks Trump Order Seeking to Overhaul US Elections

DON'T MISS

Two From Search Group That Uncovered Mexico’s ‘Ranch of Horror’ Killed

DON'T MISS

US Warns States They Could Lose Transportation Funding Over Immigration, DEI Policies

DON'T MISS

Don’t Miss Out! Tower District’s Porchfest Festival Is Saturday

DON'T MISS

Shooter in 2022 Chicago-Area Parade Massacre Sentenced to Life in Prison

DON'T MISS

Fresno Stabbing Leaves Son Dead, Father Charged With Murder

DON'T MISS

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Transgender Military Ban, for Now

DON'T MISS

California Judge Blocks Trump’s Bid to Cut Funds to ‘Sanctuary’ Cities

DON'T MISS

Town Hall on Trump’s First 100 Days Will Air Next Week

UP NEXT

Chicago Bears Great Steve McMichael Dies at 67 After Battle With ALS

UP NEXT

Long Wait Is Over for Cam Ward, Travis Hunter and Other Draft Prospects Joining the NFL

UP NEXT

Golden State’s Jimmy Butler Injured in Game 2 Loss, His Status for Game 3 Unknown

UP NEXT

Jalen Green Makes Eight 3s to Help Rockets Even Series With Warriors

UP NEXT

Newsom Seeks Help for Struggling Oil Refiners

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Directs Investigations Over Gender-Affirming Care

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Cancels Hundreds of Grants for Police, Crime Victims

UP NEXT

How Do High Schoolers Really Fare After Graduation? A New California Tool Lets You Know

UP NEXT

Yelich’s 5th Career Slam and Bauers’ 2-Run Homer Power the Brewers to Win Over the Giants

UP NEXT

Happ Hits Game-Ending Single in the 10th as the Cubs Rally Past Dodgers

US Warns States They Could Lose Transportation Funding Over Immigration, DEI Policies

2 hours ago

Don’t Miss Out! Tower District’s Porchfest Festival Is Saturday

2 hours ago

Shooter in 2022 Chicago-Area Parade Massacre Sentenced to Life in Prison

2 hours ago

Fresno Stabbing Leaves Son Dead, Father Charged With Murder

2 hours ago

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Transgender Military Ban, for Now

2 hours ago

California Judge Blocks Trump’s Bid to Cut Funds to ‘Sanctuary’ Cities

2 hours ago

Town Hall on Trump’s First 100 Days Will Air Next Week

2 hours ago

Kristi Noem’s Handbag Was Snatched From Beneath Her Chair, DHS Says

3 hours ago

Interior Department to Fast-Track Oil, Gas and Mining Projects

3 hours ago

Survey: Californians Blame Utility Company Spending, Profits for High Electricity Rates

3 hours ago

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

A Tulare man was sentenced Wednesday to four years and four months in state prison for a high-speed DUI crash that seriously injured two wom...

52 minutes ago

Maxwell Barrios, 28, of Tulare, was sentenced to over four years in state prison on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, for a 2023 DUI crash that seriously injured two women, including one who required a partial arm amputation. (Tulare County DA)
52 minutes ago

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

People vote in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Election Day in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., November 5, 2024. (REUTERS/Megan Jelinger/File Photo)
1 hour ago

Judge Partly Blocks Trump Order Seeking to Overhaul US Elections

Forensic technicians stand at a cordoned area during a media tour by Jalisco's Attorney General Office at Izaguirre Ranch, which activists have called a cartel-run "extermination camp," in Teuchitlan, Jalisco state, Mexico March 20, 2025. (REUTERS/Ivan Arias/File Photo)
1 hour ago

Two From Search Group That Uncovered Mexico’s ‘Ranch of Horror’ Killed

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks to reporters about Wednesday's deadly midair collision between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Eagle flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo)
2 hours ago

US Warns States They Could Lose Transportation Funding Over Immigration, DEI Policies

2 hours ago

Don’t Miss Out! Tower District’s Porchfest Festival Is Saturday

Robert E. Crimo III. arrives for his trial in Judge Victoria A. Rossetti’s courtroom in Waukegan, Illinois, U.S., March 3, 2025. (Nam Y. Huh/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
2 hours ago

Shooter in 2022 Chicago-Area Parade Massacre Sentenced to Life in Prison

Bryan Blackman (right), 52, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder after admitting to fatally stabbing his son, Javoeea Blackman, 25, during a disturbance outside a Fresno apartment on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Fresno PD)
2 hours ago

Fresno Stabbing Leaves Son Dead, Father Charged With Murder

2 hours ago

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Transgender Military Ban, for Now

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend