LOS ANGELES — A Superior Court judge has thrown out a $20 million lawsuit filed by Jennifer Lopez that alleged her former driver was trying to blackmail her out of $2.8 million.
In a Dec. 21 ruling that came to light late Wednesday, Judge Joseph Kalin dismissed the claim by the former “American Idol” judge
Lopez had filed the lawsuit in August against her former chauffeur and head of security, Hakob Manoukian, saying that he tried to blackmail her by threatening to reveal damaging information he’d obtained about her during his time of employment.
According to the suit, Manoukian worked for the Bronx-born Lopez for about a month before quitting due to a dispute with her management team.
Shortly thereafter, in October 2011, he engaged in “blackmail, extortion, and related acts,” the lawsuit said.
It claimed that, on Oct. 3, 2011, Manoukian’s then-attorney “made written and oral demands that unless Manoukian was paid $2.8M, he would disclose sensitive and personal information that he had allegedly heard while driving Ms. Lopez.”
The suit was actually a counterclaim made in response to a complaint filed by Manoukian.
In that suit, he claimed that he was forced to resign from his position after he was denied “production pay” that he said was owed to him.
Manoukian claimed he had given up his own transportation company to work for Lopez.
But rather than serve as her security and transportation chief, as had been agreed upon, he was demoted to being her driver, Manoukian alleged in the lawsuit.
As a result, he lost out on as much as $200,000 in base pay and the “production pay,” he claimed.
Manoukian’s suit, filed in April against Lopez and her manager, Benny Medina, is still pending.