00:00Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has published a lengthy essay on the blog platform
00:05Medium alleging that the National Enquirer and its owner American Media Incorporated
00:09tried to blackmail him over explicit selfies. Bezos begins his post by writing,
00:14"...rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I've decided to publish exactly
00:18what they sent me despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threatened."
00:22The billionaire, who announced that he and his wife of 25 years were divorcing in January,
00:26goes on to explain that that same month the Enquirer published an 11-page, year-long
00:31investigation into his relationship with Lauren Sanchez-Whitesell, wife of Endeavor
00:35executive chairman Patrick Whitesell. The explosive report contained intimate text messages
00:40Bezos had sent Sanchez-Whitesell and almost immediately questions arose as to how the tabloid
00:45could have obtained the correspondence. Alexa, how could you?
00:50In his post, Bezos says he launched his own investigation to learn how those texts
00:56were obtained and to determine the motives for the many unusual actions taken by the Enquirer.
01:01As it turns out, there are now several independent investigations looking into this matter.
01:05The tech mogul then writes that his team found out that AMI chairman and CEO David Pecker
01:09was apoplectic about the investigation and shortly thereafter they were approached with an offer.
01:14They said,
01:15However, Enquirer editor Dylan Howard then sent a detailed email to Bezos' legal and investigative team
01:35detailing nine images that the publication is prepared to publish in addition to a naked selfie
01:40taken while Bezos was still wearing his wedding ring.
01:43The email got my attention, Bezos writes, but not in the way they likely hoped.
01:47Instead, Bezos says he was willing to sacrifice personal embarrassment in order to point out
01:52a much more important matter.
01:54If, in my position, I can't stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can, he asks.
01:59Bezos explains that the extortion plot consisted of the threat that AMI would publish the personal
02:04photos unless he and his investigator Gavin DeBecker made a false public statement to the press,
02:08stating that they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI's coverage was
02:12politically motivated or influenced by political forces.
02:15Bezos is referring to headlines surrounding the publication of the Inquirer's initial
02:20investigation as being politically motivated, as AMI CEO David Pecker is known to be close
02:25to President Donald Trump, who has blasted Bezos on Twitter on multiple occasions.
02:29As part of their extortionate proposal, Bezos says that if he does not agree to the specific
02:33lie that the coverage was not politically motivated, the Inquirer will publish the photos,
02:37and even if he and DeBecker agree to it now, if they ever deviate from it, the photos will be
02:41published at a later date.
02:43These communications cement AMI's long-earned reputation for weaponizing journalistic
02:47privileges, hiding behind important protections, and ignoring the tenets and purpose of true
02:51journalism.
02:52Of course, I don't want personal photos published, but I also won't participate in their
02:56well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption,
03:00Bezos writes.
03:01I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out.
03:05Meanwhile, on Friday morning, AMI released their own statement, saying the company plans
03:08to investigate the claims made by Bezos.
03:10American media believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story
03:15of Mr. Bezos, reads the statement, in part.
03:17Nonetheless, in light of the nature of the allegations published by Mr. Bezos, the board
03:21has convened and determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims.
03:25Upon completion of that investigation, the board will take whatever appropriate action
03:29is necessary.
03:30To read more on this ongoing story, head to THR.com.
03:33For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lynn Rodriguez.
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