Jeff Bezos accuses National Enquirer publisher of blackmail over threat to release intimate photos

Olivia Rudgard
Updated
Mr Bezos said the threat was meant to pressure him into dropping an investigation into how it obtained text messages sent to his mistress, which were published in the US tabloid last month.    - Bloomberg
Mr Bezos said the threat was meant to pressure him into dropping an investigation into how it obtained text messages sent to his mistress, which were published in the US tabloid last month. - Bloomberg

The National Enquirer's parent company attempted to blackmail Jeff Bezos by threatening to publish his intimate photographs, the Amazon chief executive has alleged.

Mr Bezos said the threat was meant to pressure him into dropping an investigation into how it obtained text messages sent to his mistress, which were published in the US tabloid last month. 

On Thursday evening he published emails purporting to show an American Media Inc executive threatening to publish images of his genitals, as well as selfies showing him partly-dressed and separate images of his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez. 

The email, apparently sent by AMI chief content officer Dylan Howard, described the images and added that the Washington Post, which Mr Bezos owns, was "poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of The National Enquirer’s initial report". 

Earlier this week the Post published a story quoting Mr Bezos' consultant Gavin de Becker, which suggested the publication was "politically motivated". 

Mr Bezos has been repeatedly criticised by US president Donald Trump, who has also attacked the Post's coverage of his presidency.

Mr de Becker suggested to the Washington Post that Ms Sanchez's brother Michael, who is linked to figures close to Mr Trump, could be linked to the leaks, something Mr Sanchez has denied.

The National Enquirer, run by David Pecker, a friend of Mr Trump,  has historically been supportive of the US President, and last year it was implicated in payments made before the election to a woman who claimed she had had an affair with Mr Trump, made in order to silence her.  

Another email, apparently from AMI chief legal counsel Jon Fine, asks Mr Bezos and Mr de Becker to publicly say that they have no evidence that the Enquirer's story "was politically motivated or influenced by political forces, and an agreement that they will cease referring to such a possibility", in exchange for the media company not publishing further text messages and images.

Mr Bezos said: "Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I’ve decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten."

He added that the emails show AMI's "long-earned reputation for weaponizing journalistic privileges, hiding behind important protections, and ignoring the tenets and purpose of true journalism". 

The original story, published in the National Enquirer, included intimate text messages exchanged between Mr Bezos and Ms Sanchez.

They were published last month, the day after he announced that he was splitting with his wife of 25 years MacKenzie Bezos. 

AMI has denied that the National Enquirer story was politically motivated. 

The Telegraph has approached AMI for comment.