AMZN Amazon.com Inc

By Corinne Ramey 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (February 5, 2020).

Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos asked a California judge to throw out a defamation lawsuit against him, saying he didn't accuse his girlfriend's brother of leaking nude photos.

The argument, made in court documents filed Monday in state court in Los Angeles, comes in response to a lawsuit filed last week by Michael Sanchez, a talent agent and the brother of Mr. Bezos' girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez. In that lawsuit, Mr. Sanchez accused Mr. Bezos and his representatives of spreading false rumors that Mr. Sanchez leaked nude photographs of Mr. Bezos to the press.

Mr. Bezos and Gavin de Becker, the Amazon founder's security chief whom Mr. Sanchez also named as a defendant, also said Mr. Sanchez was the source of leaked personal text messages used for a January 2019 National Enquirer article. They pointed to a March 2019 public statement made by American Media Inc., the tabloid's publisher, saying Mr. Sanchez tipped off the tabloid about the affair and "provided all of the materials" for its investigation.

The lawyers accused Mr. Sanchez of trying to exploit a media controversy that he helped to create.

"By filing this lawsuit, Mr. Sanchez hopes to put himself back on the front pages and extract money from Defendants by leveraging the current media environment to harass them," wrote lawyers for Mr. Bezos and Mr. de Becker.

Mr. Bezos' lawyers' arguments were made under a California law that allows for early dismissal of some lawsuits that could chill free speech.

A lawyer for Mr. Sanchez didn't respond to a request for comment.

A lawyer for Ms. Sanchez declined to comment. Her lawyer previously provided a statement on Ms. Sanchez's behalf saying that her brother committed a "deep and unforgivable betrayal" by providing her personal information to the National Enquirer.

A lawyer for Mr. Bezos declined to comment beyond the filing.

The allegations in Mr. Sanchez's lawsuit revolve around the publication of a January 2019 article in the National Enquirer that made public an affair between Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sanchez, who were both married at the time. Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sanchez remain in a relationship.

In his lawsuit, Mr. Sanchez says he became involved in the tabloid's story in an effort to control the narrative around his sister's relationship. He denied leaking "graphic, nude photos" to the tabloid.

In the court documents, lawyers for Messrs. Bezos and de Becker make a distinction between personal text messages provided to the National Enquirer and the supposed nude photos referenced by Mr. Sanchez in his suit. Neither Mr. Bezos nor Mr. de Becker have accused Mr. Sanchez of leaking nude photos to the Enquirer, the court documents say.

Similarly, news articles on the subject, including one in The Wall Street Journal, say Mr. Sanchez leaked personal information, but not specifically nude photographs, the lawyers say.

American Media Inc., the tabloid's publisher, has said in a public statement that Mr. Sanchez tipped off the tabloid about the affair and "provided all of the materials" for its investigation.

The filings also contain two draft complaints that Mr. de Becker says prior lawyers retained by Mr. Sanchez had previously emailed him. One of these complaints makes federal racketeering claims against Mr. Bezos, alleging he surrounded himself with "fixers" and "whitewashers" who lied about Mr. Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez also says in that draft complaint that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents served him with a subpoena at his home in April 2019, and he testified before a grand jury in New York a month later.

A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office declined to comment. Federal prosecutors have been investigating an alleged hack of Mr. Bezos' phone and whether American Media Inc. attempted to blackmail Mr. Bezos, as the Amazon head has claimed.

Write to Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2020 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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