The CEO of the world's largest cinema chain has admitted he was the victim of an elaborate blackmail plot and sent sexually explicit images to a catfish.
Adam Aron owns AMC Entertainment, which also owns the brand Odeon in Europe.
It has been revealed that he was the victim of a catfishing scandal. He thought he was messaging a ballet dancer who he had previously been in a relationship with, but it turned out to be an entirely different woman with nefarious intentions.
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When the case went to court, Aron was named ‘victim 1’ and was presented as 'public-company CEO'.
The court heard that he had sent a woman by the name of ‘Mia’, real name Sakoya Blackwood, sexually explicit images which included him and another woman.
Sakoya Blackwood pleaded guilty over the summer to the crime, and Aron said in a lengthy tweet about the incident, that she demanded $300k to keep quiet about the images.
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In his statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Aron said: “Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement.
“I did so knowing I risked personal embarrassment.
“But with my access to resources, if I did not stand up against blackmail, who could?”
Blackwood used several fake characters in the blackmail plot, including an ex-boyfriend of the alleged dancer, and a journalist.
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She pleaded guilty to cyberstalking in March and said that she was 'deeply sorry' for her actions against the CEO, who is married.
After convincing Aron that she was an ex-girlfriend of his, the next day on April 4, she messaged him 'send me a naughty picture'.
The CEO sent multiple pictures of himself and another woman.
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On April 11, Blackwood introduced a new fake character to her scandal, that being ‘Brian’ who posed as the ‘ex-boyfriend of Mia’.
Blackwood, pretending to be ‘Brian’, threatened to leak the images and messaged the CEO saying he was going to ‘text/email all the members of your company board the vids/images.’
Several details also came out about how Blackwood pretended to be a reporter from Vanity Fair in order to obtain the money she wanted from the CEO.
Aron revealed that he did not pay any funds to the woman.
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Blackwood, who is from the Bronx in New York, was charged with the crimes last September and was sentenced to jail in July for time she had already been serving.
Mia Williams