Ahead of Kevin Hart being in one of this summer’s big 2024 movies, playing a lead in a movie adaptation of Borderlands, the comedian is being hit with a lawsuit regarding to a former scandal. Hart’s ex-friend Jonathan Todd Jackson is seeking $12 million in damages from the actor for claims regarding his alleged involvement in a 2017 sex tape. Here’s what’s going on:
Why Is Kevin Hart Being Sued For $12 Million?
According to court documents J.T. Jackson has filed (per In Touch), the former friend of Kevin Hart is suing him for allegedly breaching a written contract the two of them had regarding the 2017 sex tape scandal. Additionally, Jackson has alleged fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress in the lawsuit.
Per Jackson’s filing, he believes that his reputation was “unjustly tarnished,” which has in turn led him to deal with professional setbacks, emotional distress and financial woes. While the documents say that Hart didn’t “personally accuse” his former friend in connection with the scandal, he “contributed to the initiation of these false claims” leading to a “wrongful arrest” after he made a false report back in 2018. Hart also mentioned Jackson in his 2019 standup special (2019’s Kevin Hart: Irresponsible, which can be watched with a Netflix subscription), which Jackson says “significantly influenced public opinion and damaged” his reputation.
In July 2021, Jackson says he worked with Hart to reach a settlement which involved the comedian to “pursue and advocate for the dismissal of the criminal charges” and “make a public statement exonerating” the claims against Jackson. But there is a claim that Hart breached the contract by not following through with the “agreed-upon” public statement. Jackson also claims Hart and his team submitted “fabricated evidence” to the DA’s office as well.
What Is Kevin Hart’s Sex Tape Extortion Scandal?
The controversy in question ties back to an extortion attempt made against the comedian back in 2017. In an alleged tape comprised of three clips, Hart and a woman named Montia Sabbag were reportedly in a physically intimate encounter concurrent with his marriage to Eniko Parris. Hart publicly apologized to his wife and kids for what he referred to as a “bad error in judgement.” The comedian said at the time he’d rather admit to his mistakes than allow the extortionist to earn money off of him. The woman in the video spoke out about the scandal at the time, saying that she was “not an extortionist” or a stripper, but was involved with Hart.
How Did The Scandal Get Resolved?
Back in 2021, NBC Los Angeles reported that the criminal charges against Jonathan Todd Jackson regarding the sex tape had been dismissed. The report suggested that Jackson never made an extortion attempt and Hart was “in agreement with the dismissal of the case.”
That's the extent of what we know about this lawsuit. Kevin Hart has yet to make a comment.
