The scandal behind the hot photos of Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon
The billionaire accused the National Enquirer magazine of blackmailing him with publishing images that he sent to his lover.
Amazon CEO and CEO Jeff Bezos accused the editor of the National Enquirer publication, David Pecker, considered close to US President Donald Trump, of blackmailing him by publishing intimate photos sent to his lover.
Bezos, considered the richest man on earth, owns the Washington Post, a newspaper frequently attacked by Trump and one of those that gave the most coverage to the murder of the Saudi journalist and columnist for the newspaper, Jamal Khashoggi. The US president refused to criticize the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Bin Salmán, accused of having ordered the murder of the journalist.
Last month, Trump targeted Bezos, referring to him as "Bozo," in what appeared to be an allusion to a report published by the National Enquirer about the billionaire's relationship with former news anchor and entertainment reporter Lauren Sanchez.
"I am sorry to hear the news that Jeff Bozo was shot down by a competitor whose information I understand is much more accurate than that of his lobbying newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post. I hope the paper (by the Post) ends in better and more responsible hands! "he tweeted.
The National Enquirer had access to private text messages and weeks ago published that Bezos had an extramarital relationship with Sanchez, information that led to her divorce. Given this, the CEO of the e-commerce giant hired investigators to learn how those texts were obtained and "to determine the reasons for the many unusual actions taken by the Enquirer."
The millionaire assured Thursday that the company responsible for the tabloid had threatened to publish intimate photographs that he sent to his lover. In a text uploaded to the Medium blogging platform, he claimed that the editor of the Enquirer, American Media Inc (AMI), led by David Pecker, a friend of Trump, had threatened to release the images if he did not stop an investigation into the filtering of messages.
The tabloid, according to Bezos, demanded that he and security adviser Gavin de Becker, who is leading the investigation, publicly state that "they had no knowledge or basis to suggest that AMI's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces."
In his statement, titled No Thanks Mr. Pecker, Bezos included copies of the emails sent by AMI. "Something unusual happened to me yesterday. Actually, for me it was not just unusual: it was unprecedented. They made me an offer that I could not refuse," the text began. In turn, he charged that the Enquirer's editor, American Media Inc (led by Pecker), threatened to publish the photos if he did not stop the aforementioned investigation into the motives behind the leakage of the messages.
In his post, the tycoon recalled that Pecker was an ally of Trump and that AMI is facing a legal dispute involving the president of the United States for the practice known as "Catch and Kill". It is about obtaining information that incriminates someone so as not to publish it after reaching a confidential agreement.
The Amazon CEO hinted that the origin of the publications against him may be in the coverage made by The Washington Post, also owned by him, on the Trump presidency and also on Saudi Arabia. Pecker was investigated by the US Justice for collaborating during the 2016 White House elections with the Trump campaign and, according to Bezos, he also has ties with the Arab country.
"I do not want, of course, that personal photos are published, but I will not be part of their well-known practices of blackmail, political favors, political attacks and corruption. I prefer to face it, roll this and see what comes up," Bezos said.
"If in my position I cannot stand up to this type of extortion, how many people can?" Warned the richest man on the planet, who, far from leaving the issue there, attacked: "Will David's response come Pecke to add a dramatic new episode? "
Here are the messages Bezos made public:
The first was that of Dylan Howard, AMI's chief content officer, who sent Martin Singer, a lawyer for the Bezos team, a "confidential and not for distribution" e-mail that read, as the Amazon CEO transcribed: "Marty : I am leaving the office until tomorrow. I will be available on my cell phone: (917) XXX-XXXX. However, in the interest of expediting this situation, and with The Washington Post prepared to publish unsupported rumors about the first report from The National Enquirer, I wanted to describe the photos obtained during our information gathering.
Bezos wrote that "in addition to the 'selfie under the belt, colloquially known as the penis photo,' the Enquirer obtained nine other images."
The message with the requirement. The Amazon CEO also included a transcript of the letter from Jon Fine, AMI's second general counsel, sent to the same attorney, Martin Singer:
Marty, here are the terms we propose:
1. A full and complete mutual disclosure of all claims that American Media, on the one hand, and Jeff Bezos and Gavin de Becker (the "Bezos party"), on the other, might have against the other.
2. A mutually agreed public admission on Bezos's part, made public by means of mutual agreement, that contends that they have no knowledge or basis to suggest that AMI's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces, and an agreement that they will no longer refer to such a possibility.
3. AMI agrees not to publish, distribute, share or describe the unpublished texts and photos (the "unpublished materials").
4. AMI asserts that it did not conduct electronic wiretapping in connection with its journalistic work and that it is not aware of such conduct.
5. The agreement is completely confidential.
6. In the event that one or more persons on Bezos's side violate the agreement, AMI is released from its obligations under the agreement and may publish the unpublished materials.
7. Any other disputes arising from this agreement should first be referred to the California Judicial Mediation and Arbitration Service.
