Lauren Sanchezwas photographed for the first time since her boyfriend and Amazon CEOJeff Bezosclaimed theNational Enquirertried to blackmail himwith explicit photos of himself and Sanchez.
The news anchor, 49, shared a bright smile as she stepped out on Friday in a black shirt, jean jacket and gray pants.
Her outing comes just one day after Bezos, 55, wrote a lengthy post on thewebsite Mediumaccusing theEnquirerand its parent company American Media Inc. of attempting to blackmail and extort him with intimate photos the couple had shared.
“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,” Bezos wrote.
TheEnquirerpublished amonths-long investigationinto Bezos and his relationship with Sanchez in January shortly after Bezos announced his divorce from wife MacKenzie, alleging the two had traveled to “exotic destinations on his $65 million private jet.” The tabloid’s report contained photographs and text messages that Bezos had allegedly sent to Sanchez.
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AMI haspreviously deniedany political motive behind its story about Bezos and Sanchez, though David Pecker, chairman of the tabloid’s parent company, was a longtime ally ofDonald Trumpuntil last fall, when AMI agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in an investigation of its alleged efforts to help hide negative stories about Trump. The President has regularly criticized Bezos for his ownership of theWashington Post, which has closely and critically covered Trump’s administration.
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Bezos published emails fromEnquirerexecutives to attorney Martin Singer, who represents de Becker, that appeared to suggest theEnquirerwould publish intimate photos of Bezos and Sanchez, including some that were partially nude, if the Amazon chief did not comply.
“They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn’t stop our investigation,” he continued, adding his lawyers had “argued that AMI has no right to publish photos” due to the copyright individual people have over their own images.
Bezos also claimedEnquirereditor Dylan Howard sent an email to Singer giving a detailed description of intimate photos of Bezos and Sanchez that the publication had obtained. Bezos included the alleged email in his Medium post.
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Howard did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“Well, that got my attention. But not in the way they likely hoped,” Bezos wrote on Medium. “Any personal embarrassment AMI could cause me takes a back seat because there’s a much more important matter involved here. If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?”
“These communications cement AMI’s long-earned reputation for weaponizing journalistic privileges, hiding behind important protections, and ignoring the tenets and purpose of true journalism,” Bezos continued.
He concluded, “Of course I don’t want personal photos published, but I also won’t participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption. I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out.”
Bezos—considered the world’s richest man with an estimated fortune of $137 billion—and wife MacKenzie, 48, announced they were separating in a joint statement in early January. Hours later, news emerged that theAmazon CEO was dating Sanchez. The news anchor is also divorcing her husband of 13 years, Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell.
source: people.com
