Montia Sabbag comes forward as the woman at the center of Kevin Hart’s extortion case.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 20, the actress-model confirmed that while she’s the woman in the leaked footage, she had “nothing” to do with the recordings.
“My name is Montia Sabbag,” she said in a statement. “I was involved with Kevin Hart a month ago. Since then my pictures and my name have been released with lies written about me. I’m not an extortionist. I’m not a stripper. I’m a recording artist and an actress and I have not broken any laws. I had nothing to do with these recordings. I hired Lisa Bloom solely to protect my legal rights. I am truly sorry for any involvement I had in this.”
As previously reported, Sabbag recently acquired high-powered attorney Lisa Bloom after reports surfaced claiming an unidentified person attempted to extort the comedian over footage featuring Hart and a young woman now identified as Sabbag getting up close and personal in a bedroom.
“I’m at a place in my life where I feel I have a target on my back and because of that I should make smart decisions, and recently I didn’t,” Hart said via Instagram in a brief video clip. “I’m not perfect and I’m not gonna sit up here and say that I am, or claim to be in any way shape or form. And I made a bad error in judgement and I put myself in an environment where only bad things can happen and they did. And in doing that, I know I’m gonna hurt the people closest to me, who I’ve talked to and apologized to, being my wife and my kids.”
Bloom also released a statement about the case, stating, “Montia is a crime victim. Someone apparently snuck cameras into Kevin Hart’s private hotel suite in Las Vegas and recorded bedroom images of the two of them. It is a crime to secretly put cameras in a private place like a hotel room. It is another crime to secretly record people in a private place. It is yet another crime to distribute those images. Montia is the victim of multiple felonies under state and federal laws.”
The statement continued, “Although it’s been reported that law enforcement is investigating, we have no evidence of that. Montia has not been contacted. Therefore, we are announcing today that we will be going to the authorities immediately to report this matter. We want to be sure that these crimes are thoroughly investigated and that the criminal responsible for violating Montia’s rights is apprehended. We will fully cooperate with law enforcement.”
Furthermore, Bloom revealed that Sabbag isn’t seeking money from the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle actor.
“Montia and I are not asking for a cent from Kevin Hart,” Bloom said. “This is not about money. We are not suing him. We are not making any claims against him. Any reports to the contrary are false. Kevin Hart appears to be the victim of this criminal, just as Montia is a victim of this criminal. We invite Mr. Hart to join us in bringing the perpetrator to justice. To those making malicious, false statements about Montia: do the right thing and stop. If you do not, we intend to hold you accountable as well. To the criminal who did this, I say: you belong in prison, and we are going to find you. If anyone has information about this crime, please contact me at TheBloomFirm.com.”
Later on, Bloom opened the floor to questions, where she confirmed that the encounter occurred “approximately a month ago in Las Vegas.” When asked how long Sabbag and Hart were together, Bloom responded, “It was briefly about a month ago.”
Not to our surprise, the topic of a possible sex tape came up, to which Bloom replied, “Well, we have seen online the same thing that many of you have seen, which are very disturbing images that appear to be of Montia with Kevin Hart about a month ago in Las Vegas and she had nothing to do with it. She did not consent to it.” Still, Bloom confirmed that Hart did have an “intimate relationship” with Sabbag.
Bloom also said that her client “does not have any idea who is behind this, but she is willing to cooperate with law enforcement and give them all the information about people who may have been there, who could be possible suspects…we don’t know sitting here today who it is.”
In the meantime, Bloom and her client “will be talking to law enforcement immediately because that’s what crime victims should do and I will be going with Montia to talk to law enforcement.”
What are your thoughts on Sabbag’s statement? Sound off in the comment section below.
