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The Man Who Allegedly Tried to Extort Kevin Hart With a Sex Tape Is Facing Some Serious Jail Time
The Kevin Hart extortion scandal is finally coming to a close. The man who allegedly tried to extort the 38-year-old by releasing a sex tape in September 2017 is now facing some serious jail time.
In a statement released by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Jonathan Todd Jackson, 41, was charged on May 2 "with trying to coerce actor Kevin Hart to pay him for a video that was surreptitiously recorded last year." According to the D.A., prosecutors said, "Jackson is accused of trying to extort an undisclosed amount of money from Hart between Aug. 25 and Aug. 30, 2017. Jackson allegedly had a videotape of the actor with a woman in Las Vegas and then was accused of trying to sell the recording to numerous celebrity news websites."
Adding fuel to the fire, Jonathan Todd is reportedly a close acquaintance of Kevin who seemingly addressed the legal action on Twitter. "Mind blown…Hurt…at a lost [SIC] for words and simply in complete disbelief at the moment. WOW," the father-of-three wrote.
This charge brings closure to a devastating scandal that nearly turned the comedian's family upside down. Kevin's wife, Eniko Parrish, was pregnant with their son when news of the sex tape broke. The actor faced immediate backlash and desperately took to social media to apologize for his actions.
“I’m at a place in my life where I feel like I have a target on my back and because of that, I should make smart decisions. And recently, I didn’t. You know, I’m not perfect. I’m not going to sit up here and say that I am or claim to be in any way, shape, or form," the Jumanji star said in his Instagram video.
"I made a bad error in judgment and I put myself in a bad environment where only bad things can happen and they did. And in doing that I know that I’m going to hurt the people closest to me, who’ve I talked to and apologized to, being my wife and my kids."
The pair is still happily married today. Hopefully, after the arraignment, which is scheduled to take place May 2, they can put this scandal behind them once and for all.
