AMC Theatres CEO Says He's Victim of Criminal Extortion Attempt After Catfishing Scam

AMC CEO Adam Aron was the victim of a catfishing scam back in 2022.

By Timothy Adams

Adam Aron, the high-profile CEO of AMC Theatres, was the victim of a criminal extortion and catfishing scam back in 2022. According to Semafor, the ruse involved Aron sending sexually explicit images and messages to a woman who then turned around and started to blackmail him out of thousands of dollars with the help of fake identities. Aron was listed as "Victim 1" in a 2022 federal indictment, which only referred to him as the CEO of a public company according to those familiar with the case and documents filed in the Southern District of New York. Aron turned to the FBI for help in fighting the extortion.

The FBI advised Adam Aron to tell the AMC board about the incident. The woman behind the scheme is Sakoya Blackwood, who was sentenced to time already served back in July. Aron addressed the ordeal becoming public knowledge in a lengthy post to X, formerly Twitter, stating: "By definition, I live my life in the public eye. Unfortunately, last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by a third party who was unknown to me related to false allegations about my personal life. Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement. I did so knowing I risked personal embarrassment. But with my access to resources, if I did not stand up against blackmail, who could?"

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Details about AMC CEO's catfishing scandal emerge

The federal indictment revealed Sakoya Blackwood started texting AMC CEO Adam Aron in March 2022 using the name "Mia." She sent photos to Aron, but instead of being photos of herself, they were photos of what her attorneys said was a 17-year-old Russian model. In contrast, prosecutors only said the photo was of a Russian model but an age was not specified. 

The documents state Aron and Blackwood began trading messages, with Aron believing she was a woman with whom he had a prior relationship. This eventually led to Aron sending explicit photos to Blackwood, with documents stating Aron was with another woman in them. The plot thickened when Blackwood started making up more fake characters, including a Vanity Fair reporter who claimed to have seen the pictures traded between the two, and a fake ex-boyfriend. Blackwood then demanded thousands of dollars from Aaron, threatening to go to the press and AMC's board unless she was paid.

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