Jeff Bezos has sought $1.7 million from his girlfriend’s
brother to cover legal fees of a defamation lawsuit, reported Bloomberg.

Michael Sanchez, brother of Bezos’ girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, in 2020 sued Bezos and his security consultant Gavin de Becker with the
claim that they had caused him defamation by telling journalists that he had
leaked the Amazon CEO’s nude photographs to the National Enquirer.

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The case was later thrown out due to lack of evidence on
Sanchez’s part, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Reportedly, Bezos, in his request filed to the Los Angeles
Superior Court on Friday, said that Sanchez betrayed his sister and Bezos by selling
their private communication material to the Enquirer for $200,000, and
eventually attempted to further suppress the billionaire by filing a lawsuit
just to coerce him into a settlement.

“Mr Bezos’s fee request is obscene, even grotesque, on
many levels,” Tom Warren, attorney for Sanchez, was quoted as saying.

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The option of reimbursement occurred through a California
state judge dismissing the lawsuit by Sanchez on the basis of a state law, which
allows expedited dismissals of baseless lawsuits.

The law, namely the anti-Slapp statute, oversees the
provision wherein the prevailing defendant is entitled to have legal fees
reimbursed by the plaintiff.