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AMC Theatres' CEO, Adam Aron, was involved in a messy blackmail plot.
Semafor is reporting that the AMC CEO allegedly sent sexually explicit images and messages in “a weeks-long text exchange” with a woman. This woman was trying to get “hundreds of thousands” of dollars from Aron for using fake identities.
In a 2022 federal indictment, Aron was named “Victim 1” in the documents. There were demands for hush money and threats to take the matter to the press and AMC's board. The FBI directed Aron to tell AMC's board about the situation after Sakoya Blackwood, the woman who was indicted, was sentenced to serve time in July.
Beginning in March 2022, Blackwood began texting Aron as “Mia.” In those messages, Blackwood included photos of what her attorneys later said was a 17-year-old Russian model (the prosecutors later didn't specify an age but confirmed her to be a Russian model). Aron mistook her for a woman from a past relationship, asking if she was the ballerina who had done “unmentionable things” to him, per court documents.
They kept exchanging messages, and Aron would even send explicit pictures of him and another woman, the government's sentencing memo revealed.
The situation kept going as Blackwood would amass an array of more characters to text Aron as. Some of these included a fake ex-boyfriend and a fictitious Vanity Fair reporter. Blackwood would use online burner accounts to message him.
“Offers are coming in like crazy ppl love a scandal,” Blackwood texted Aron under the guise of the aforementioned ex-boyfriend.
However, Aron never gave in to the financial demands and instead reported it to the FBI.
Adam Aron took to X (formerly Twitter) to address the situation on October 12.
“Unfortunately, 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. Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement. I did so knowing I risked personal embarrassment. But with my access to resources, if I did not stand up against blackmail, who could?” the AMC CEO said.
He continued, “A vigorous federal criminal investigation ensued which resulted in the extortionist being arrested, convicted of a felony, and spending nearly a year in jail. At the time of the arrest, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York commended my having reported the matter to the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice. This was entirely a personal matter.”
Aron ended the message by expressing his gratitude to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI for their “diligent, skillful, and professional handling of this unfortunate matter.”
In a statement, AMC's board said: “The board retained independent counsel, WilmerHale, to look into the incident. The board determined it was a personal matter, and considers the issue resolved.”
