Billionaire Leon Black is continuing to fight back against allegations of rape. The man who was brought down as head of Apollo Global Management due to his close relationship with the rapist and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is currently being sued for defamation and sexual assault by one of his rape accusers.
Leon Black is now accusing his former partner and Apollo Global Management Inc. co-founder Josh Harris of being behind a “malicious” campaign to take him down. The claim was made as part of court filings made by his lawyers in the case brought by former Russian model, Guzel Ganieva, the woman who has accused Black of sexual assault.
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According to the filings, Leon Black has accused Harris of engaging in a “coup and smear campaign” in order to oust Black as head of Apollo and take his place.
The accusation was made as part of a motion on the part of Leon Black’s lawyers to try and subpoena various documents including phone records to prove the charge and thereby disprove the rape accusation. Black’s lawyers said, “It is not a stretch to infer that someone with very deep pockets is supporting her and/or this lawsuit. Mr. Black is entitled to probe and prove up that inference.”
But is this all just posturing? Do the lawyers, or Leon Black really believe any of this? And does it even matter at this stage?
The lawsuit was filed against Leon Black last June. Güzel Ganieva accused Black of coercing her into silence after committing acts of sexual violence against her as well as defamation. The suit was filed in New York City.
Guzel claims that she was taken by Black to Jeffrey Epstein’s estate and handed over like a present.
New York Authorities have reportedly been investigating Leon Black over the rape allegations.
The 69 year old Wall Street power player was forced out early as the head of Apollo Global Management because of his connection to Jeffrey Epstein. Leon Black was supposed to stay on with Apollo Global Management until the end of 2021; however, he was forced to abruptly resign in March of that year after first announcing his retirement in January of 2021. But even his “retirement” was not entirely voluntary. Black was pushed into it after a plethora of revelations were made about his relationship with the late rapist and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
