NEW YORK, Could 24 (Reuters) – A New York state decide on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Apollo World Administration Inc (APO.N) billionaire co-founder Leon Black of defaming a lady by falsely claiming she tried to extort him after accusing him of rape.
Justice David Cohen stated the accuser, Guzel Ganieva, couldn’t pursue her claims after receiving $9.5 million from Black underneath a nondisclosure settlement that adopted their six-year relationship, which led to 2014.
Black, 71, has denied raping or behaving inappropriately with Ganieva, who’s about three many years youthful. Black left Apollo in 2021.
Cohen stated Ganieva’s acceptance of Black’s funds and choice to not contest the nondisclosure settlement barred her from claiming she signed it underneath duress.
The Manhattan decide additionally discovered no proof that Ganieva, a single mom and former Russian mannequin, didn’t perceive the settlement.
“The NDA clearly and unambiguously covers all claims arising out of the events’ relationship, previous or future,” Cohen wrote.
Ganieva fired her legislation agency in March and selected to characterize herself, court docket data present. She didn’t instantly reply to a message left at a telephone quantity listed for her Manhattan house.
“From the very starting, I’ve made clear that Ms. Ganieva’s allegations in opposition to me have been false,” Black stated in an announcement. “I’m gratified that the reality has come out and justice has been lastly completed.”
The lawsuit stemmed from a March 2021 interview through which Black stated he had “foolishly had a consensual affair” with Ganieva, and that she extorted him based mostly on threats to go public.
He was responding to posts on Twitter the place Ganieva accused him of getting sexually harassed and abused her for years.
Black is value $8.8 billion, in line with Forbes journal.
He nonetheless faces a lawsuit by one other girl, Cheri Pierson, who has accused him of raping her twenty years in the past within the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan.
Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Black, in an interview following Cohen’s choice stated Pierson’s lawsuit, like Ganieva’s, had no advantage and “will seemingly be dismissed.”
The case is Ganieva v. Black, New York State Supreme Court docket, New York County, No. 155262/2021.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Enhancing by Invoice Berkrot
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