AMC Theatres Chief Executive Adam Aron, who runs the world’s largest movie theater chain, was targeted by a “elaborate” blackmail scheme, the businessman said Thursday on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by a third party who was unknown to me related to false allegations about my personal life,” Aron wrote in a lengthy post on X. “Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement.”
According to Aron, a federal criminal investigation ultimately led to the arrest of the blackmailer, who Aron says was convicted of a felony and spent nearly a year in jail.
“Shortly after the extortionist’s July 2023 sentencing, I informed AMC’s Board of Directors which thoroughly reviewed these events with independent outside counsel,” the CEO added. “This indeed was entirely a personal matter, and the matter is closed.”
Aron’s post came in the wake of a story published by the media outlet Semafor, which reported that a woman named Sakoya Blackwood had used fake identities to try to extort the entertainment executive for hundreds of thousands of dollars after he sent her sexually explicit texts and photos.
According to a federal indictment, a grand jury charged Blackwood with having “used multiple online identities … in a catfishing and extortion scheme” wherein she “threatened to release sexually explicit photographs of, and sexually explicit communications involving, a particular individual who is the Chief Executive Officer of a publicly traded company.” The indictment withheld the victim’s name.
Semafor reported that, according to sources familiar with the matter, “Victim-1” was in fact Aron. The outlet said Blackwood first imitated a Russian model whom Aron mistook for a prior lover, and then later also fabricated “burner accounts” for a fake ex-boyfriend and Vanity Fair reporter in the extortion scheme.
A spokesperson for AMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Blackwood’s legal team. Aron could not be reached for comment.
AMC Theatres Chief Executive Adam Aron, who runs the world’s largest movie theater chain, was targeted by a “elaborate” blackmail scheme, the businessman said Thursday on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by a third party who was unknown to me related to false allegations about my personal life,” Aron wrote in a lengthy post on X. “Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement.”
According to Aron, a federal criminal investigation ultimately led to the arrest of the blackmailer, who Aron says was convicted of a felony and spent nearly a year in jail.
“Shortly after the extortionist’s July 2023 sentencing, I informed AMC’s Board of Directors which thoroughly reviewed these events with independent outside counsel,” the CEO added. “This indeed was entirely a personal matter, and the matter is closed.”
Aron’s post came in the wake of a story published by the media outlet Semafor, which reported that a woman named Sakoya Blackwood had used fake identities to try to extort the entertainment executive for hundreds of thousands of dollars after he sent her sexually explicit texts and photos.
According to a federal indictment, a grand jury charged Blackwood with having “used multiple online identities … in a catfishing and extortion scheme” wherein she “threatened to release sexually explicit photographs of, and sexually explicit communications involving, a particular individual who is the Chief Executive Officer of a publicly traded company.” The indictment withheld the victim’s name.
Semafor reported that, according to sources familiar with the matter, “Victim-1” was in fact Aron. The outlet said Blackwood first imitated a Russian model whom Aron mistook for a prior lover, and then later also fabricated “burner accounts” for a fake ex-boyfriend and Vanity Fair reporter in the extortion scheme.
A spokesperson for AMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Blackwood’s legal team. Aron could not be reached for comment.
AMC Theatres Chief Executive Adam Aron, who runs the world’s largest movie theater chain, was targeted by a “elaborate” blackmail scheme, the businessman said Thursday on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by a third party who was unknown to me related to false allegations about my personal life,” Aron wrote in a lengthy post on X. “Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement.”
According to Aron, a federal criminal investigation ultimately led to the arrest of the blackmailer, who Aron says was convicted of a felony and spent nearly a year in jail.
“Shortly after the extortionist’s July 2023 sentencing, I informed AMC’s Board of Directors which thoroughly reviewed these events with independent outside counsel,” the CEO added. “This indeed was entirely a personal matter, and the matter is closed.”
Aron’s post came in the wake of a story published by the media outlet Semafor, which reported that a woman named Sakoya Blackwood had used fake identities to try to extort the entertainment executive for hundreds of thousands of dollars after he sent her sexually explicit texts and photos.
According to a federal indictment, a grand jury charged Blackwood with having “used multiple online identities … in a catfishing and extortion scheme” wherein she “threatened to release sexually explicit photographs of, and sexually explicit communications involving, a particular individual who is the Chief Executive Officer of a publicly traded company.” The indictment withheld the victim’s name.
Semafor reported that, according to sources familiar with the matter, “Victim-1” was in fact Aron. The outlet said Blackwood first imitated a Russian model whom Aron mistook for a prior lover, and then later also fabricated “burner accounts” for a fake ex-boyfriend and Vanity Fair reporter in the extortion scheme.
A spokesperson for AMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Blackwood’s legal team. Aron could not be reached for comment.
AMC Theatres Chief Executive Adam Aron, who runs the world’s largest movie theater chain, was targeted by a “elaborate” blackmail scheme, the businessman said Thursday on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by a third party who was unknown to me related to false allegations about my personal life,” Aron wrote in a lengthy post on X. “Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement.”
According to Aron, a federal criminal investigation ultimately led to the arrest of the blackmailer, who Aron says was convicted of a felony and spent nearly a year in jail.
“Shortly after the extortionist’s July 2023 sentencing, I informed AMC’s Board of Directors which thoroughly reviewed these events with independent outside counsel,” the CEO added. “This indeed was entirely a personal matter, and the matter is closed.”
Aron’s post came in the wake of a story published by the media outlet Semafor, which reported that a woman named Sakoya Blackwood had used fake identities to try to extort the entertainment executive for hundreds of thousands of dollars after he sent her sexually explicit texts and photos.
According to a federal indictment, a grand jury charged Blackwood with having “used multiple online identities … in a catfishing and extortion scheme” wherein she “threatened to release sexually explicit photographs of, and sexually explicit communications involving, a particular individual who is the Chief Executive Officer of a publicly traded company.” The indictment withheld the victim’s name.
Semafor reported that, according to sources familiar with the matter, “Victim-1” was in fact Aron. The outlet said Blackwood first imitated a Russian model whom Aron mistook for a prior lover, and then later also fabricated “burner accounts” for a fake ex-boyfriend and Vanity Fair reporter in the extortion scheme.
A spokesperson for AMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Blackwood’s legal team. Aron could not be reached for comment.
