Apollo co-founder Leon Black wins dismissal of rape accuser’s lawsuit

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York state judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Leon Black, billionaire and co-founder of Apollo Global Management Inc, of defaming a woman by falsely claiming she had tried to blackmail him after she accused him of rape.

Judge David Cohen said prosecutor Guzel Ganieva could not pursue her claims after she received $9.5 million from Black under a nondisclosure agreement following their six-year relationship that ended in 2014.

Black, 71, has denied raping or engaging in inappropriate behavior with Ganieva, who is about three decades younger. Black left Apollo in 2021.

Cohen said Ganieva’s acceptance of Black’s payments and decision not to challenge the nondisclosure agreement prevented her from claiming she signed it under duress.

The Manhattan judge also found no evidence that Ganieva, a single mother and former Russian model, did not understand the agreement.

“The NDA clearly and unambiguously covers any claims arising from the parties’ past or future relationship,” Cohen wrote.

Ganieva fired her law firm in March and decided to represent herself, court records show. She did not immediately respond to a message left at a phone number listed for her Manhattan home.

“From the beginning, I have made it clear that Ms. Ganieva’s allegations against me were false,” Black said in a statement. “I’m glad the truth has come to light and justice has finally been served.”

The lawsuit stemmed from a March 2021 interview in which Black said he had “foolishly had a consensual affair” with Ganieva and that she had blackmailed him through threats to go public.

He responded to posts on Twitter in which Ganieva accused him of sexually harassing and abusing her for years.

According to Forbes magazine, Black is worth $8.8 billion.

He is still facing a lawsuit from another woman, Cheri Pierson, who has accused him of raping her at the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion two decades ago.

Susan Estrich, an attorney for Black, said in an interview after Cohen’s decision that Pierson’s lawsuit, like Ganieva’s, was without merit and “likely to be dismissed.”

The case is Ganieva v. Black, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 155262/2021.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)