Kevin Hart Sued for Botching Apology Meant to Vindicate Ex-Friend in Sex Tape Scandal
Kevin Hart is facing a lawsuit for allegedly failing to properly vindicate a former friend, who was charged by prosecutors for trying to extort the actor with a sex tape and is the subject of a Netflix docuseries over his involvement in the scandal.
The complaint, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims Hart botched a settlement that required the actor to share an agreed-upon statement that proclaimed Jonathan “J.T.” Jackson’s innocence. It also accuses Hart of giving fake evidence to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, with the aim of getting it to charge Jackson for extortion.
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The complaint, which also names Hart’s company Hartbeat, seeks at least $12 million and brings claims for fraud and breach of contract.
In 2018, Jackson was charged for trying to extort Hart with a videotape of the actor engaged in sexual activities with a woman who wasn’t his wife. Hart, a year later, released a docuseries, Don’t F**k This Up, accusing Jackson of creating and disseminating the tape.
The duo in 2021 reached a settlement over the events in a deal that required Hart to pursue for the dismissal of all criminal charges and make a public statement exonerating Jackson. Instead, Hart “blatantly breached” the agreement by departing from the “meticulously negotiated” wording of the statement.
Under the deal, Hart was supposed to state, “I’m proud to say that all charges against J.T. Jackson have been dropped and he is not guilty and had nothing to do with it.” Instead, he said that Jackson had “recently been found not guilty, and those charges have been dropped against him.”
“I can say I’m happy that that chapter of my life is over,” he added. “This message is about moving on.”
Jackson says Hart’s statement dilutes the settlement’s intention to clear his name and restore his reputation. The departure from the agreed-upon language constitutes a “profound and egregious breach” the lawsuit says, by “brazenly undermin[ing] the critical provisions designed to rehabhilite” Jackson’s career, which has allegedly been ruined by the belief that he tried to extort Hart.
The lawsuit also claims that Hart fabricated the email, which was sent by his lawyers to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, that led to prosecutors raiding Jackson’s house. The message was purported to have been created in April 2018, but forensic analysis determined that it was actually created in May 2019, more than a year after the alleged extortion attempt.
Hartbeat didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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