Updated
Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos has taken aim at a tabloid media organisation he says tried to blackmail him with the threat of publishing “intimate photos”.
Key points:
- Jeff Bezos and his wife announced their divorce last month after 25 years of marriage
- The same day, the National Enquirer said it would publish intimate texts from Mr Bezos
- Mr Bezos says the Enquirer is trying to extort him using additional intimate photos
In a lengthy blog post published on Thursday, Mr Bezos made several claims about the National Enquirer and its parent company, American Media Inc (AMI).
The blog post marks the latest twist in a weeks-long saga that has brought the personal life of Mr Bezos, the richest person in the world, into the spotlight.
Mr Bezos and his wife announced last month that they were divorcing after 25 years of marriage, following a period of “loving exploration” and trial separation.
That same day, the National Enquirer touted that it would publish alleged intimate text messages between Mr Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, whom he was said to be dating.
Since then, Mr Bezos opened an investigation into the leak led by Gavin de Becker, a public safety expert and special appointee of former US president Ronald Reagan.
Mr de Becker proceeded to tell the media that the leak was politically motivated, which, according to Mr Bezos’s blog post on Thursday, concerned AMI.
In his blog post, Mr Bezos said that National Enquirer boss David Pecker was “apoplectic” about Mr de Becker’s investigation, because it may have uncovered business ties between Mr Pecker and the Saudi Arabian Government.
Mr Bezos said AMI threatened to publish lewd photos and intimate text messages if Mr Bezos did not stop the investigation.
Mr Bezos also said AMI threatened to publish the materials unless he and Mr de Becker publicly, specifically stated that they had “no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces”.
“In the AMI letters I’m making public, you will see the precise details of their extortionate proposal,” Mr Bezos wrote.
“They will publish the personal photos unless Gavin de Becker and I make the specific false public statement to the press that we ‘have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces’.”
AMI did not immediately return a request for comment.
Mr Bezos, who owns more than $US120 billion in Amazon stock, continued, “If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?”
Reuters
Topics:
business-economics-and-finance,
First posted
from Trend Gossip Now http://bit.ly/2Bqk2xg
0 Comments