Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is firing back at National Enquirer owner American Media Inc. (AMI) over what he is calling an “extortion and blackmail” attempt by…
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is firing back at National Enquirer owner American Media Inc. (AMI) over what he is calling an “extortion and blackmail” attempt by the tabloid.
In a lengthy post on Medium Thursday, Bezos details alleged correspondence between the lawyer for his lead investigator, Martin Singer, and Dylan Howard, the chief content officer for AMI.
In emails posted by Bezos, Howard says the Enquirer would post a series of images it has of Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, the Amazon founder’s love interest, if Bezos did not release a statement “affirming that they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AM’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces.” The emails also demanded Bezos and his investigator agree that they would stop “referring to such a possibility.”
The images, according to Howard’s email posted by Bezos, include a variety of private pictures of both Bezos and Sanchez such as a “below the belt selfie” of Bezos and a picture of Sanchez “smoking a cigar in what appears to be a simulated oral sex scene.”
Bezos shared the Medium post from his official Twitter account. Amazon has separately confirmed the authenticity of the post, but declined to comment further.
