Man Charged In Extortion Plot Against Comedian Kevin Hart
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A man has been arrested in Los Angeles on allegations that he attempted to extort comedian Kevin Hart with a video taken last summer which suggested Hart may have cheated on his wife.
Jonathan Todd Jackson, 41, who also goes by the moniker "Action Jackson," was arrested Monday on one count each of attempted extortion and extortion by threatening letter.
According to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, Jackson tried to extort money from the 38-year-old Hart between Aug. 25 and Aug. 30, 2017, using a video which was taken in Las Vegas showing Hart with a woman that was not his wife.
Following the incident, Hart posted an apology video on his own Instagram page in which he said, "I'm at a place in my life where I feel like I have a target on my back. And because of that, I should make smart decisions. And recently, I didn't. I'm not perfect."
"I'm not going to allow a person to have financial gain off of my mistakes and in this particular situation, that's what was attempted," Hart went on to say. "I said, 'I'd rather fess up to my mistakes.'"
In September, Montia Sabbag, who admitted to being the woman in the video, held a news conference in Woodland Hills with celebrity attorney Lisa Bloom in which she admitted to having a sexual relationship with Hart, but denied any involvement in the extortion plot. Sabbag said that she and Hart were secretly recorded in a Las Vegas hotel room.
Hart married Eniko Parrish in 2016. The couple welcomed their first child together in November. Hart has two children from a prior marriage.
If convicted, Jackson face a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
He is being held on $100,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.