International pop star and actor Ricky Martin has filed a $30 million lawsuit against his nephew who publicly accused the superstar of sexual abuse before withdrawing the claims under oath in July.
Martin filed the lawsuit in filed in the U.S. territory’s Court of First Instance in San Juan on Wednesday. The filing claims Martin has been “persecuted, besieged, harassed, stalked and extorted” by his “troubled” nephew, Dennis Yodel Sanchez, for economic reasons. In the lawsuit, Martin accuses Sanchez of trying to “assassinate” his reputation.
Ricky Martin is suing his nephew after he accused him of sexual abuse, court documents show.https://t.co/V227Sw2wky
— NBC Latino (@NBCLatino) September 8, 2022
This turn of events began in July when Sanchez publicly claimed he’d had a seven month affair with Martin. When the alleged relationship ended, Sanchez claimed Martin began harassing and stalking him, going so far as to file a restraining order against the pop star. Martin denied all of the accusations. The nephew – who Martin now describes as a “maladjusted individual” in the filing – quickly withdrew his restraining order and recanted his allegations under oath.
But wait – there’s more! According to the 8-page complaint, Sanchez has continued to harass the “Livin’ la Vida Loca” singer via Instagram messages as recently as August 14.
From TMZ:
According to the new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the nephew hasn’t stopped. Ricky claims a month after Dennis withdrew his restraining order, he began sending messages to Ricky through Instagram … threatening to “assassinate his reputation and integrity” unless he anted up cash.
Ricky says in the lawsuit before Dennis filed for a restraining order, he was publicly boasting about being Ricky’s nephew. Ricky says the nephew bombarded him with messages — sometimes more than 10 in a single day — for 4 months.
Additionally, the filing alleges that Sanchez posted Martin’s phone number on Instagram, AND that the nephew created an Instagram account for one of Martin’s children, which made him uncomfortable.
Ricky Martin has filed a hardline $30 million extortion lawsuit against the “maladjusted” nephew who publicly accused the superstar musician of sex abuse before withdrawing the claims under oath in July. https://t.co/9AhmNb9k2Y
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) September 8, 2022
Martin says the false allegations by Sanchez have now cost him $10 million in lost income as a result of canceled contracts and projects, as well as $20 million in damages to his reputation.
From the filing:
“The pecuniary damages caused as a result of these actions are quantified in an amount not less than ten million dollars ($10,000,000). In addition, such culpable actions have also caused damage to Plaintiff’s reputation who, until the Protection Order became public knowledge, enjoyed an impeccable reputation earned through his long artistic and altruistic career for the last almost forty (40) years of his life. Such damages to Plaintiff’s reputation are quantified at the date of the filing of this lawsuit in an amount not less than twenty million dollars ($20,000,000).”
Martin’s lawsuit also states that the actions by Sanchez have caused Martin and his family to feel “unsafe” in Puerto Rico. The lawsuit asks the judge to order Sanchez to “immediately refrain from communicating” with Martin and his family.
Martin’s lawyers said the claim by the nephew, which he has since recanted, has cost the singer millions of dollars in lost income. https://t.co/WZVcszJt02
— HuffPost Ent (@HuffPostEnt) September 8, 2022
