Michael Sanchez, the brother of Jeff Bezos’ girlfriend, sued the Amazon.com Inc. founder for defamation, alleging his representatives spread false rumors to news outlets that Mr. Sanchez provided graphic nude photos of Bezos to the press.
The Wall Street Journal reports the lawsuit, filed Friday in California state court in Los Angeles, also names as a defendant Gavin de Becker, a security consultant hired by Mr. Bezos. Mr. Sanchez, a talent manager, claims Mr. de Becker worked with Mr. Bezos to spread false statements about the public disclosure of Mr. Bezos’ affair with Lauren Sanchez, Sanchez’s sister.
A lawyer for Mr. Bezos said, “My client has chosen to address this lawsuit in court and we will do that soon.”
A lawyer representing Ms. Sanchez provided a statement on her behalf. It said, “Michael is my older brother. He secretly provided my most personal information to the National Enquirer—a deep and unforgivable betrayal.”
Sanchez’s lawsuit acknowledges that he helped publicize the relationship in an attempt to get out in front of news about the relationship.
His lawsuit concerns what he says was a campaign by Mr. Bezos and de Becker to blame Sanchez for turning over graphic nude photographs, which Sanchez denies doing. People familiar with Sanchez’s dealings with the tabloid said he showed a below-the-belt selfie of Mr. Bezos to the Enquirer, without providing a copy, but turned over other images.
The lawsuit comes amid renewed scrutiny over the source of photos obtained by the National Enquirer around the time it published a January 2019 article. The tabloid published photos of Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sanchez in public, but it withheld photos it said Mr. Sanchez sold to the Enquirer.
Last month, a forensic audit commissioned by Bezos alleged that his phone was hacked by a WhatsApp account associated with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudi government has called that allegation absurd.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the alleged hack of Bezos’ phone and whether National Enquirer parent American Media Inc. attempted to extort Mr. Bezos. In a blog post last year, Mr. Bezos accused American Media of trying to blackmail him by threatening to release embarrassing photos.
Sanchez has denied giving the Enquirer “the many penis selfies” but declined to comment when asked by The Wall Street Journal whether he gave other photos of Bezos to the Enquirer.
Prosecutors have evidence showing that at least some texts supplied to the National Enquirer by Mr. Sanchez came from his sister’s phone, the Journal has previously reported.
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