Jeff Bezos Faces Defamation Lawsuit Filed By Girlfriend's Brother Over Selfie Leaks

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN chief executive officer Jeff Bezos is being sued by his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez's brother for defamation.

What Happened

Michael Sanchez, a Hollywood talent manager, on Friday filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles, alleging that Bezos spread false information about Sanchez leaking his nude graphic pictures to the media, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The lawsuit also names Gavin de Becker, a security consultant hired by Bezos, as a defendant, according to the Journal.

In the lawsuit, Sanchez has alleged that the false accusations by Bezos have led to a Federal Bureau of Investigation raid at his house, damaged his reputation, hurt his relations with his family, and caused a loss of business, the Journal reported. He seeks unspecified damages from the defendants.

Why It Matters

Sanchez has long maintained that while he provided the National Enquirer's parent company American Media Inc. with some information, he never possessed any of Bezos's explicit pictures himself.
"I've cooperated with all of the investigations," Sanchez told the Telegraph U.K. in January. "All proved without a shadow of a doubt that I never possessed the penis selfies Jeff Bezos texted."

According to the Journal, Sanchez signed a $200,000 contract with AMI that gave it "exclusive rights to "certain information, photographs, and text messages" between Bezos and Sanchez.

Sanchez's Sister Dubs It A Betrayal

"Michael is my older brother. He secretly provided my most personal information to the National Enquirer—a deep and unforgivable betrayal," Sanchez's sister Lauren told the Journal in a statement issued through her lawyer.

Bezos's lawyer told the Journal that they plan to address this lawsuit in court, and "will do that soon."

In a blog post in February last year, Bezos alleged that David Pecker, the CEO of AMI, attempted to blackmail him using these graphic pictures of the alleged affair, for politically motivated reasons.

Price Action

Amazon's shares closed 7.38% higher at $2,008.72 on Friday, with the e-commerce giant's better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings causing the surge.

Photo Credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia.