The board of American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, announced Friday that it will investigate the explosive claims Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos made against the company.
Bezos accused AMI of “extortion and blackmail,” claiming the media company threatened to publish additional explicit photos of Bezos and his mistress unless he halted his investigation of the leaked images.
“American Media believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of Mr. Bezos,” the company said in a statement obtained by CNN. “Further, at the time of the recent allegations made by Mr. Bezos, it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him. Nonetheless, in light of the nature of the allegations published by Mr. Bezos, the Board has convened and determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims. Upon completion of that investigation, the Board will take whatever appropriate action is necessary.”
In December, the Trump-aligned tabloid company entered a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York over the company’s payment to one of President Trump’s mistresses, which was made in order to bury her story of Trump’s infidelity.
