American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, announced Friday it will start an investigation in light of blackmail allegations levied by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
The board committed to taking “whatever appropriate action is necessary” once it completes its investigation of claims by Mr. Bezos, who charges that AMI threatened to release intimate photos of him unless he said the Enquirer’s coverage was not politically motivated.
“American Media believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of Mr. Bezos,” AMI said in a statement. “Further at the time of the recent allegations made by Mr. Bezos, it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him.”
Mr. Bezos accused the National Enquirer of “extortion and blackmail” in a Thursday blog post 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?” he wrote.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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