Jeff Bezos National Enquirer Blackmail Controversy

Overview

Jeff Bezos National Enquirer Blackmail Controversy refers to an alleged proposed deal made by American Media, Inc. (AMI), the owners of tabloid magazine the National Enquirer, to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. According to Bezos, AMI threatened to publish private photographs of Bezos and his significant other Lauren Sanchez, including nude photographs of Bezos, in exchange for a retraction by the Bezos-owned Washington Post newspaper of the coverage of AMI onwer David Pecker's political engagements with Saudi Arabia. Bezos refused in a public blog post, which became the subject of intrigue and dissection online and in the media.

Background

Jeff Bezos' Text Messages

On January 10th, 2019, the National Enquirer^[1] published alleged text messages from Bezos to Sanchez. In one of the messages, Bezos allegedly wrote, "I love you, alive girl. I will show you with my body, and my lips and my eyes, very soon." The text was the subject of public mockery following the publication.

No Thank You, Mr. Pecker

On February 7th, in a blog post on the website Medium,^[2] Bezos responded to what he describes as "extortion and blackmail" from AMI, the Nation Enquirer and its owner David Pecker. In the blog, he states that Washington Post investigations have determined that "Mr. Pecker has used the Enquirer and AMI for political reasons," particularly in regards to Pecker's relationship with the government of Saudi Arabia. He writes:

In the AMI letters I’m making public, you will see the precise details of their extortionate proposal: They will publish the personal photos unless Gavin de Becker and I make the specific false public statement to the press that we “have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”

If we do not agree to affirmatively publicize that specific lie, they say they’ll publish the photos, and quickly. And there’s an associated threat: They’ll keep the photos on hand and publish them in the future if we ever deviate from that lie.

The letters argue that if these actions are not taken photographs of Bezos exposing his genitalia and elicit photographs of Sanchez will be published by AMI. One of the company's attorneys write to Bezos:

We hereby demand that you cease and desist such defamatory conduct immediately. Any further dissemination of these false, vicious, speculative and unsubstantiated statements is done at your client’s peril.

Developments

Online Reaction

The Medium post received more than 148,000 claps in less than 24 hours. Additionally, the blog post was the subject of conversation online. That day, Bezos tweeted^[4] the blog post, which received more than 24,000 retweets and 78,000 likes in 24 hours.

Conservative commentator Bill Kristol tweeted, ^[3] "AMI is awfully worried about something Bezos’s investigation might uncover. What? It can’t be just generalized sleaze. That’s not news. I’ve got to think AMI is panicked about something particular. Odds that it’s Trump-related?" The tweet received more than 5,700 retweets and 26,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Journalist Ronan Farrow, known for his work in the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct investigation, tweeted^[5] that AMI has threatened him and other journalists. He wrote, "I and at least one other prominent journalist involved in breaking stories about the National Enquirer’s arrangement with Trump fielded similar 'stop digging or we’ll ruin you' blackmail efforts from AMI. (I did not engage as I don’t cut deals with subjects of ongoing reporting.)" Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 10,000 retweets and 33,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Some speculated that the controversy was connected to Pecker's relationship with United States President Donald Trump. Miami Herald reporter tweeted,^[6] "New: Washington Post reporter just said that Bezos’ investigator suspects that 'a government agency' intercepted Bezos’ text messages." The tweet received more than 6,000 retweets and 13,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

That day, Redditor ^[12] smellslike__updog posted about the story in the /r/politics subreddit. The post received more than 37,000 points (85% upvoted) and 3,100 comments. Additionally, Redditor^[13] corginamedzelda posted about the story in the /r/news subreddit, receiving more than 42,000 points (89% upvoted) and 3,100 comments.

The following day, actor Terry Crews also alleged that AMI had attempted to "silence" him. He tweeted,^[14] "This same company, AMI, tried to silence me in my lawsuit against @wme and Adam Venit by fabricating stories of me with prostitutes-- and even went so far as creating fake receipts. I called their bluff by releasing their threats online. They blinked." The tweet received more than 975 retweets and 3,900 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

American Media Response

The following day, American Media, Inc. published^[7] a statement about the controversy, stating that they acted "awfully in the reporting of the story of Mr. Bezos." Additionally, the company stated that they would be investigated Besos' allegations against AMI. They write:

American Media believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of Mr. Bezos. Further, at the time of the recent allegations made by Mr. Bezos, it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him. Nonetheless, 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.

Media Coverage

Virtually all major media outlets covered the controversy, including Washington Post,^[8] Fortune,^[9] CNN,^[10] Wall Street Journal^[11] and more.

Search Interest

External References