Ricky Martin is taking legal action against his nephew who accused him of sexual assault in a twisted attempt to get money.
On Wednesday, the singer filed a lawsuit against his nephew, Dennis Sanchez Martin. In the filing, Martin accused Sanchez of extortion, stating that the incident unfolded because he refused to follow Sanchez on social media and ignored his requests to make a social media page for Martin and his husband’s children, though Sanchez made the account anyway. This made the 50-year-old extremely uncomfortable, but Sanchez refused to remove it. For months, Sanchez boasted about being Martin’s nephew and attempted to gain popularity with this information. At times, the man would bombard Martin with up to ten messages a day requesting favors. Sanchez even went as far as sharing Martin’s phone number on Instagram.
Things escalated when Sanchez fabricated the story of having a sexual relationship with Martin for seven months. In a July lawsuit against his uncle, Sanchez claimed that Martin became angry when he tried to end the relationship. He was ultimately granted a temporary restraining order. Martin claims his nephew continued the extortion plot even after the order was issued.
Shortly after filing his lawsuit against Martin, Sanchez decided to drop it. But according to the star, even with the case closed and the restraining order lifted, his nephew still tried to squeeze money from him and promised to ruin his reputation if he did not get what he wanted.
Martin is seeking $20 million in damages from his nephew, arguing that he lost multi-million dollar deals following the salacious claims. The Grammy-Award winner says he and his family no longer feel safe in Puerto Rico and is asking a judge to order Sanchez to cease all communication with him.
