If Amazon.com Inc. boss Jeff Bezos really wants his company's movie production division to create a blockbuster hit, he might want to let them focus on his own life.
In the past two days alone, the biography of the world's richest man has taken more plot twists than a M. Night Shyamalan flick and includes a superstar cast complete with President Donald Trump and a cameo by political sensation Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Threats by a tabloid to publish graphic images sent to a new flame. A private investigator hired to unearth leaks. Conspiracy theories of a connection to the killing of a Saudi dissident journalist. Plea deals with federal prosecutors under pressure. Political intrigue swirling around a proposed $2.5 billion investment on a New York City waterfront. Martin Scorsese is salivating.
The saga began last month when the e-commerce pioneer used Twitter to announce he and Mackenzie, his wife of 25 years, planned to divorce. Within hours, the National Enquirer exposed Bezos's relationship with former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. That sounds pretty pedestrian now.
The story took on hard-to-believe Hollywood proportions on Thursday. In a lengthy blog post, Bezos accused the National Enquirer and its publisher, Trump-ally David Pecker, of blackmail and extortion, publishing email exchanges to back it up. The Enquirer threatened to publish graphic selfies of a scantily clad and sometimes exposed Bezos, saying the images are newsworthy because they reveal poor judgment by the leader of the world's biggest online retailer.
Bezos representatives argued publication of his private images would violate copyright laws. The Enquirer said it would not publish the photos if Bezos agreed to issue a statement saying the magazine's reporting isn't politically motivated. The tabloid also wants to stop Bezos investigating how the photos leaked. The billionaire has hired Gavin de Becker, a private investigator to the stars, to find out what happened.
The blog laid bare the tactics of a tabloid that years ago ended John Edwards's presidential run by exposing an extramarital affair, and more recently protected then-candidate Trump by buying the stories of women who allegedly were sexually involved with him and then never publishing a word.
The post also highlighted the shrewd public-relations tactics of a billionaire who refuses to be cornered. Forget the portrait painted by the Enquirer of a moneyed philanderer in a mid-life crisis. Bezos cast himself as a hero, protecting the First Amendment at his own risk. His ownership of The Washington Post, which has published stories critical of Trump as well as investigations into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is a "complexifier" in his situation, he said. Bezos decided to expose the correspondence with the Enquirer, and risk photos of himself being shared with the world, to stand up against blackmail and extortion and ensure the integrity of the Washington Post, he said.