According to Reuters, a legal dispute escalated between Leon Black, a Wall Street billionaire and former CEO of Apollo Global Management, and Guzel Ganieva, a former model accused of rape by him. Blake filed a lawsuit on Thursday (28th) accusing the former model and her law firm of defamation and extortion.
In the complaint, Blake's lawyers accused the law firms Ganeva and Wico of engaging in "criminal activity," including falsely linking Blake with the late American billionaire and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Blake's lawyers said in a lawsuit filed in Federal Court in Manhattan: "They knew that for him (Blake) reputation was important in his world, they started destroying him and making him pay some price to stop them, and they were planning to take advantage of the outcome of this matter to enrich themselves." ”
Ganeva sued Blake in New York state court in June, accusing him of rape and other violations against herself and forcing her to sign a confidentiality agreement in 2015 for the two of their relationship that lasted six months, claiming that Blake tried to slander her for extortion.
Guzel Ganeva. Source: The New York Times
In response to the lawsuit filed by Blake, Ganeva's lawyer said in an email: "This is an obvious act of retaliation and we look forward to defending these ridiculous allegations." ”
Blake admits to maintaining what he now calls a "regrettable" relationship with Ganeva from 2008 to 2014, but he vehemently denies a series of claims and allegations that include Blake's attempt to arrange for Ganeva, now in his 30s, to have sex with Epstein in 2008.
Blake has said he paid Ganeva $100,000 a month for years after Ganeva tried to extort $100 million from him in exchange for not talking publicly about their relationship. Those payments stopped after Ganeva tweeted about Blake in March.
Blake recently strengthened his legal team by hiring John Quinn, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, and a lawyer, Susan Estrich, whose previous clients included roger Ailes, former fox news chairman.
Guzel Ganeva. Image source: Foreign media screenshot
Estrich, who has known Black since the 1970s, said: "Mr. Black really has no reason to defend himself, private voluntary adult acts are not legal matters, extortion and defamation are the law's business." ”
Earlier this year, black resigned from Apollo Global Management after an external independent review found he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning, even though he was not involved in Epstein's criminal activities. Blake has publicly stated that he regrets his relationship with Epstein.