Jeff Bezos' Girlfriend Lauren Sanchez's Brother Sues Amazon CEO For Defamation

Lauren Sanchez, girlfriend of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, denounced her elder brother for suing Bezos after his "unforgivable betrayal" of secretly providing sexually explicit photos of the couple to the tabloid National Enquirer in 2018.

Lauren condemned her brother Michael for "this new baseless and untrue lawsuit." Michael Sanchez on Friday sued Bezos for defamation in a lawsuit accusing the latter of falsely telling journalists he provided explicit nude photographs of Bezos to the tabloid. He also sued Gavin de Becker, a security consultant working for Bezos, who Bezos hired to find out who leaked the photos to the Enquirer.

Sanchez filed the lawsuit late Friday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Media reports at the time allege Michael was the main source for a scandalous story published by the Enquirer in 2019 revealing the affair between his sister and Bezos. The story was also accompanied by explicit photos of the pair, including so-called "dick pics" taken by Bezos of himself.

In the court filing, Michael Sanchez admits he entered into a confidential agreement to “cooperate strategically” with American Media Inc., parent firm of the National Enquirer. He claims he did so to “get ahead of the story” in an effort to limit the backlash against his sister and Bezos.

He alleges he didn’t provide the lewd photographs to the Enquirer. He also claims he couldn’t have been the source of these photos because he never possessed them in the first place. His claims didn't wash with his sister, however.

“Michael is my older brother,” said Lauren Sanchez in a statement provided by her lawyer, Terry Bird. “He secretly provided my most personal information to the National Enquirer -- a deep and unforgivable betrayal. My family is hurting over this new baseless and untrue lawsuit, and we truly hope my brother finds peace.”

New details revealed only in December 2019 seem to point to Saudi Arabia as the source of the explicit photos sent to the Enquirer. A United Nations report last month accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of possible complicity in hacking Bezos’ Apple iPhone based on an analysis conducted by a consulting firm hired by Bezos. Saudi Arabia strongly denies the allegation.

De Becker claims Saudi Arabia is the source of the intimate photos and texts of Bezos and Sanchez now in the possession of the Enquirer. He said his investigation concludes “with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’ phone and gained private information,” he said. He claims he turned over the results of his investigation to U.S. federal officials.

It seems the motive for this hacking operation by Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency is revenge for stories written by the late Jamal Khashoggi that are critical of the country and its ruler, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The stories were published by The Washington Post, which Bezos owns, and for whom Khashoggi worked as a correspondent.

Khashoggi was murdered on October 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. His body was reportedly dismembered and has never been found.

“Some Americans will be surprised to learn that the Saudi government has been very intent on harming Jeff Bezos since last October, when the Post began its relentless coverage of Khashoggi’s murder,” wrote de Becker.