Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos wrote a blog post on Thursday claiming that the National Enquirer's parent company American Media Inc (AMI) tried to blackmail him with the publication of “intimate photos.”

Axar.az reports citing Sputnik.

The world’s richest person wrote that on the day Bezos and his wife announced last month that they were divorcing after 25 years of marriage, the National Enquirer wrote to him about their intention to publish alleged intimate text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, his new mistress.

The blog post came on the same day that Gavin de Becker, Bezos’ security adviser, told The Washington Post that he is investigating how text messages between Bezos and former TV anchor and now-paramour Sanchez were obtained and reported by the National Enquirer. The security consultant alleged that the leaks had a political motive and were part of a conspiracy by allies of President Trump to discredit Bezos.

The Amazon founder himself wrote that AMI approached him with a letter that contained a description of the photos that were in the text messages between him and Sanchez. These photos include, aside from a “below the belt selfie — otherwise colloquially known as a ‘d*ck pick’” — photos of Bezos naked or half-naked while wearing a wedding ring and photos of Sanchez’ cleavage as well as “ a photograph of her smoking a cigar in what appears to be a simulated oral sex scene.”

According to the letters, in exchange for not publishing these photos, AMI’s Deputy General Counsel, Jon Fine, wanted Bezos and his team to acknowledge that “they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces, and an agreement that they will cease referring to such a possibility.”

"If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?" Bezos said in his post. AMI has not commented on the matter.