Jeff Bezos is Being Sued By His Own Girlfriend’s Brother

The world’s richest man and the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is facing a lawsuit from his own girlfriend’s brother.

Bezos is being sued for defamation by Michael Sanchez, the brother of Bezos’ girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, a former TV anchor.

The lawsuit was filed this past Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court and alleges that Bezos spread false rumors that Michael Sanchez leaked intimate photos of Bezos to the National Enquirer. In the suit Michael says he entered into a nondisclosure agreement with the Enquirer, but only to “get ahead of the story.”

Gavin de Becker, Bezos’ security chief, is also named in the complaint.

It was in January of 2019 that the Enquirer published intimate texts and photos that the Amazon CEO sent to Lauren Sanchez.

Bezos said in a Medium post last February that National Enquirer publisher AMI blackmailed him by threatening to publish the photos, which included a selfie below the belt, if he did not state that the tabloid’s coverage of him was not politically motivated.

An AMI spokesperson had said to CNBC that Michael Sanchez was the single source for the story while The Wall Street Journal said Michael granted AMI the right to use the photos and text messages in exchange for $200,000.

Michael has said that he “never had possession of the graphic photographs in question.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. It does not provide any proof that Sanchez never had access to the photos of Bezos.

William Isaacson, one of Bezos’ lawyers has told CNBC in a statement: “My client has chosen to address this lawsuit in court and we will do that soon.”