jackson was accused of setting up a camera in hart’s hotel room and recording his extramarital affair
Kevin Hart‘s old friend, j.t. jackson, has been cleared of all criminal charges related to a 2017 sex tape scandal.
In a video posted on social media, hart shared an update on the case in a video, admitting, “I’m glad that chapter of my life is over.”
Jackson was accused of setting up a camera in Hart’s Las Vegas hotel room and recording the comedian’s sexual tryst with Montia Sabbag,thegrio previously reported. In 2017, that extramarital affair became public when tmz reported on what they described as a “graphic” video, posting a photo of the two of them.
At the time, Hart was framed in the scandal as some sort of victim of having been betrayed by a close friend in his inner circle who reportedly tried to extort millions from him.
however, sabbag said that hart and jackson colluded to set it all up for personal gain. She sued the night school star for $60 million in damages, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and invasion of privacy, according to court documents obtained by People. According to TMZ, Hart wants the sex tape case to be dismissed.
sabbag claimed in court papers that hart allowed jackson into the room to set up video to record their encounter without her knowledge. She said it was all done to help “promote [Hart’s] irresponsible tour, which was unprecedented comedy, and to increase his overall status in pop culture,” according to the documents.
hart took to social media to publicly apologize to his wife, eniko who was pregnant at the time.
“I am guilty [of infidelity], regardless of how it happened and what was involved, which I cannot speak about, I am guilty. I’m wrong,” Hart said in an interview with the Power 105.1 FM show The Breakfast Club in December 2017. “It’s beyond irresponsible. There’s no way to avoid it. that’s kevin hart at his silliest moment. that is not the best hour of my life. With that said, you make your bed and lie down on it.”
sabbag made it clear that she is “not an extortionist.”
“I had nothing to do with these recordings,” he said at the time.
jackson was facing charges of attempted racketeering, attempting to hide and sell stolen property, unauthorized use of personal identification and identity theft, according to tmz. the first 3 charges were dropped in 2019, due to insufficient evidence, and now the identity theft charge has been dropped for the same reason, the outlet reports.
hart recently took to instagram to address the case.
“Look, it’s no secret that my life has had its ups and downs, it definitely has,” he said. “I’m not proud of casualties at all, but of course, that’s life, things happen, it’s our job to adapt when they happen.”
hart said he was initially unable to discuss the case due to legal issues.
“You know they put a fork in the road between me and him, and that relationship was lost. but I’m glad that now I can not only finally talk about it, but I can say that I’m happy that chapter of my life is over. I’m happy we can put a period in that sentence, and I’m excited to return to the life we once knew.”
on instagram, jackson wrote on september 30: “all charges dropped in court yesterday…all praise be to god!”
He also thanked his attorneyjacob glucksman for representing him “like a true champion,” adding “thank you for believing in me from the beginning and wiping out a brother.”
Jackson opened up about his strained relationship with Hart in an interview with Comedy Hype last year, admitting he was “disappointed” with how Hart handled the issue.
“If you thought I did something to you and these accusations that are accusing me, your son for 15 years, don’t you want to sit down and talk to me, brother?” he said.
adding, “he never, ever sat down and called me on the phone to say, ‘we need to talk,’ and it seemed strange to me. you know it’s 15 years, bro, come and sit with me.”
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post about kevin hart’s ex-friend acquitted of extortion over sex scandal appeared first on thegrio.