Leon’s slap at accuser
‘Ep’ claim ‘bogus’
Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black said a former Russian model’s accusations that he tried to push her into a sexual encounter with Jeffrey Epstein are “demonstrably false,” according to a Wednesday court filing.
Black (inset) said he has proof that onetime girlfriend Guzel Ganieva “simply invented” the connection to Epstein. Her initial complaint against the billionaire, filed in June, accused Black of defamation and said he had raped her, but didn’t mention Epstein.
“It speaks volumes that these outlandish allegations are only now appearing for the very first time,” the Wednesday filing said, referring to Ganieva’s amended complaint, which she filed in August. It was that complaint that for the first time mentioned Epstein.
Black said in Wednesday’s filing that he has tape recordings of Ganieva from around 2015 in which she says she has never met Epstein. He had questioned her at the time about whether she knew him, according to the filing.
Ganieva’s amended complaint added explosive allegations to her original claim. It said that Black in 2008 flew her to Florida to have sex with Epstein in a threesome. Ganieva said she refused to have sex with the men despite Epstein’s assistant allegedly warning her that the men were “sex addicts” and that “there will be consequences” for displeasing them.
Had the incident actually happened, Black said in Wednesday’s filing, Ganieva would have recounted meeting Epstein in the 2015 recording. The filing says Ganieva suggested in the recording only that Epstein might have once called her.
Black has asked Manhattan Supreme Court Judge David Cohen to dismiss Ganieva’s defamation suit against him.
This battle between Black, the former chairman of the Museum of Modern Art, and the previously relatively unknown Ganieva began in March when she alleged in a tweet that Black had sexually assaulted her. He hit back in the press, claiming she had been extorting money from him. She then filed the original defamation suit before amending it.
Black asked in the Wednesday filing for the judge to impose sanctions on Ganieva and her attorneys, including Wigdor LLP partner Jeanne Christensen, for their “sanctionable litigation misconduct.”
Christensen, in a statement to The Post, said Black has concocted a false narrative about her client.
“Black’s billions and his powerful connections will not prevent the truth from coming out,” she said. “We are confident that a jury of Ms. Ganieva’s peers will hold Black accountable for Black’s horrific conduct as alleged in our complaint by Ms. Ganieva.”