Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has written a blog post in which he claims the National Enquirer tabloid tried to blackmail him. It’s the latest in a string of events that have seen Bezos’ private life thrown into the spotlight.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Thursday accused the owner of the US newspaper National Enquirer of blackmailing him with threats of publishing “intimate photos” he sent to his mistress if he did not publicly announce that the tabloid’s reporting on him was not politically motivated.
The National Enquirer, whose top boss David Pecker is close to Trump, last month reported Bezos had an extramarital affair with former news anchor and entertainment reporter Lauren Sanchez.
“Of course I don’t want personal photos published, but I also won’t participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption,” Bezos wrote in the blog post titled “No thank you, Mr. Pecker” published on Medium. “I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out.”
Alleged blackmail followed investigation
Bezos and his wife announced in January that they were getting a divorce after 25 years of marriage, following a period of “loving exploration” and trial separation.
That same day, the National Enquirer advertised it was publishing alleged intimate text messages between Bezos and Sanchez.
Bezos then opened an investigation into the leak led by Gavin de Becker, a longtime security consultant and former appointee of US President Ronald Reagan.
In an interview with the Daily Beast, De Becker said that “strong leads point to political motives” and that he was interested in Lauren Sanchez’s brother Michael, a vocal supporter of Trump with links to his inner circle, as a possible perpetrator.
Bezos, Amazon and the newspaper that he privately owns, the Washington Post, have all been targets of attacks on Twitter by Trump.
The Washington Post publishes many articles critical of Trump, and the president has said the paper acts as Amazon’s “chief lobbyist.”
Trump called Bezos “Jeff Bozo” in a tweet last month about the National Enquirer’s coverage of his divorce.
