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Leon Black allegedly colluded with Jeffrey Epstein and former Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp on how to “silence and destroy” sexual harassment accusers, a new lawsuit claims.
Law firm Wigdor LLP accused the Apollo Global Management co-founder of forming a brain-trust with Epstein and Karp that spent “considerable time devising ways to surveil and retaliate” a Russian model who accused Black of sexual abuse, according to the suit.
The firm, founded by Douglas Wigdor, represented the model, Guzel Ganieva, whose lawsuit against Black was dismissed by a judge in 2023.
The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, cites emails from the Department of Justice’s recent dump of files related to dead pedophile Epstein.
“If leon decides enough is enough,” Epstein asked in an August 2015 email to Karp, can you “have her arrested.!! [for] extortion, high bail maybe deportation?”
“My strong belief is that the answer is yes,” Karp allegedly replied, the suit states, and then suggested a former top federal prosecutor who recently joined his firm could file the criminal referral.
In another exchange included in the filing, Epstein suggested the legal team try to “revoke her visa,” to which Karp allegedly replied: “both good ideas; will work on this.”
Other emails sent the same day reveal that Karp was allegedly overseeing a surveillance effort against Ganieva, detailing her movements and license plate numbers, according to the suit.
The suit’s main claims surround alleged retaliatory lawsuits Black filed against Wigdor as the firm represented Ganieva and Cheri Pierson, who accused the finance bigwig in 2022 of raping her at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.
Black’s three suits accusing the firm of malicious prosecution, racketeering and defamation were all dismissed by local and federal courts.
“Black is attempting to weaponize the civil justice system to silence and destroy those who seek to hold him to account for alleged sexual assault and rape,” Wigdor’s suit reads.
Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, called the suit “another bogus attempt by Wigdor to attack Mr. Black under false pretenses.”
Pierson withdrew her suit in 2024. Ganieva fired Wigdor while her case was still active.
Epstein and Black long had financial ties, with the convicted sex offender demanding millions from the financier as he faced arrest.
Representatives for Karp and Wigdor did not respond for comment.
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