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National Enquirer owner defends reporting on Amazon's Bezos
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The owner of U.S. tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer pushed back on Friday against accusations of “extortion and blackmail” from Amazon.com Inc chief Jeff Bezos, saying its reporting on an extramarital affair involving the world’s richest man was lawful and it would investigate his claims.
Bezos on Thursday accused American Media Inc of trying to blackmail him with the threat of publishing “intimate photos” he allegedly sent to his girlfriend unless he said in public that the American supermarket tabloid’s reporting on him was not politically motivated.
“American Media believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of Mr. Bezos,” the company said in a statement.
Bezos and his wife announced last month that they were divorcing after 25 years of marriage. That same day, the National Enquirer touted it was publishing alleged intimate text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, a former television anchor whom he was said to be dating.
Bezos opened an investigation into the leak, led by longtime security consultant Gavin de Becker. De Becker told media that the leak was politically motivated.
In a blogpost on Thursday, Bezos cited an email from AMI deputy general counsel, Jon Fine, to a lawyer representing de Becker. In it, AMI proposed a public acknowledgment from Bezos and de Becker that “they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that (AMI’s) coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”
In return for such an acknowledgment, according to the email, AMI offered “not to publish, distribute, share, or describe unpublished texts and photos,” Bezos said.
Bezos said the statement AMI was proposing was false and described the offer as an “extortionate proposal.”
Extortion typically involves an effort to obtain property, services, money or some other benefit by threatening violence, reputational harm or other injury.
In Florida, where American Media is based, extortion includes maliciously threatening targets with disgrace, or to expose their secrets. In Washington state, where Amazon is based, it includes threatening to expose secrets that may subject targets to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or reveal information that the targets wanted to conceal.
Both forms of extortions are second-degree felonies.
Bezos, Fine, and de Becker were not immediately available for comment. Amazon.com declined to comment. Its stock was down 2.1 percent at $1,579.73.
On Friday, AMI said that at the time of Bezos’ allegations it was “in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him.”
“In light of the nature of the allegations published by Mr. Bezos, the Board has convened and determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims. Upon completion of that investigation, the Board will take whatever appropriate action is necessary,” it added.
Bezos, Amazon.com and the newspaper he owns privately, the Washington Post, have all been targets of attacks on Twitter by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Reporting by Chris Sanders, Hilary Russ and Jonathan Stempel; Writing by Mohammad Zargham and Nick Zieminski; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Susan Thomas
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