Jeff Bezos stares down nude photo 'blackmail' attempts by National Enquirer

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and one of the biggest names in the tech world has come out firing against the national enquirer, claiming the publication is extorting him over nude photos. In a blog post published on Medium late on Thursday, Bezos said AMI, the parent company of the national enquirer, had approached his team claiming it had obtained deeply personal text messages and photos sent by Mr. Bezos. According to an email, allegedly sent by AMI and reproduced by Bezos, the company had intimate photos of the Amazon CEO and Lauren Sanchez, a TV personality Bezos has been linked to in recent months. The photos reportedly include a quote, naked selfie in the bathroom while wearing a wedding ring and a glimpse of Sanchez's nether region But despite the Celestial claims Bezos refuses to capitulate. The email got my attention he wrote. But not in the way they likely hoped. 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? Bezos made headlines last month after announcing he is divorcing his wife of 25 years. [UNKNOWN] Bezos. The news set the business and technology world alight with questions swirling around what the $140 billion divorce settlement would mean for Amazon. The announcement also have provided plenty of photo for gossip columns with the National Enquirer being the first outlet to print [UNKNOWN] Bezos in his reported affair with Sanchez. Now Bezos says AMI is attempting to extort him over negative reports on the national enquirer in the Washington Post, which Bezos owns. In the reprinted email, an AMI executive threatens to publish the nude photos unless Bezos makes statements that AMI was quote never influenced by political forces. But Bezos says AMI is attempting to weaponize journalistic privileges. Of course I don't want personal photos published, he writes. 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. Representatives for AMI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, but the blog post has already sent a wave through the tech world. It remains to be seen what the full fallout will be. I'm Claire Riley, and to stay tuned with developments with this big story, head to Cnet.com.