Michael Sanchez, the brother of Jeff Bezos’ mistress, admitted that he struck a ‘deal with the devil’ and received $200,000 from the National Enquirer in exchange for helping the tabloid break the story of the Amazon CEO’s extramarital affair.
Sanchez said he did it to protect his sister, Lauren Sanchez, and her new flame, Bezos, because he wanted the news of their romance to become public after both of their spouses were told, according to Page Six.
It doesn’t appear as if Lauren Sanchez felt her brother’s intentions were good, as she cut ties with the man who is not only her sibling but was also a manager and publicist.
Though Michael Sanchez admits to revealing the affair and leaking text messages to the Enquirer, he adamantly denies obtaining intimate photos, including 'selfies' of Bezos' genitalia.
'I may have helped the Enquirer with their story,' he told Page Six.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is seen left with Lauren Sanchez in Los Angeles in December 2016. Michael Sanchez is seen in the photo on the right
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sanchez's brother, Michael Sanchez (seen right with his sister), was paid $200,000 by the publisher of the National Enquirer for intimate text messages exchanged between his sister and Bezos
Bezos and Sanchez are yet to be seen in public as an official couple after the National Enquirer published a story in January about their affair and message exchange
'But I never had access to the penis selfies.'
It was those 'penis selfies' that Bezos says the Enquirer's parent company, American Media, Inc., was using to extort him.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that AMI paid Michael Sanchez $200,000 to obtain intimate texts between the Amazon CEO and his sister.
The Journal's finding, attributed to people familiar with the matter, parallels the conclusion reached by private investigators working for Bezos as of early February.
Those investigators reportedly found that Michael Sanchez had leaked the texts to the Enquirer, although they didn't appear to conclude who might have paid for them.
Bezos has said AMI threatened to publish explicit photos of him unless he stopped investigating how the Enquirer obtained his private exchanges and publicly declared that the Enquirer's coverage of him was not politically motivated.
Last month, Bezos and Sanchez are reported to have enjoyed a secret reunion in one of Bezos' multi-million dollar Manhattan properties around Valentine's Day.
But Page Six reported on Tuesday that sources close to Bezos strongly deny that there was a date.
In fact, the two have not met up since the story of their relationship became public, according to a source.
'A lot of this has to do with their decision to lay low and spend time with their kids, who didn’t get a warning about the Enquirer story and now have to deal with the intense public interest and the paparazzi in pursuit,' a source told Page Six.
The source laid part of the blame on Michael Sanchez.
'Michael isn’t doing her and Jeff any favors by keeping his sister’s name in the press,' the source said.
'He may genuinely believe he is defending Lauren, but in many ways he is actually doing more to...doom her relationship with Jeff.'
The relationship between the siblings appears to be ruptured.
In the weeks following the National Enquirer's expose, Michael Sanchez contacted The Washington Post, the newspaper Bezos owns, to act as an 'off the record point of contact' for information about his sister.
'For obvious reasons, I can’t go into detail on email and all of my communications must be completely Confidential.
'I’m reaching out to you, off-the-record. I will be your single point-of-contact for anything Lauren-related. I’d appreciate it if we can keep open (one) line of
