Jonathan Todd Jackson Charged With Felonies For Attempting To Extort Former BFF Kevin Hart Over Sex Tape
This is such a messy situation!
Getty Images Who is Jonathan Todd Jackson? He was mentioned in the new Netflix limited series, Kevin Hart: Don't F**k This Up. And it didn't take long for fans to realize that he was Hart's former BFF and attempted extortionist.
The question on everyone's mind is: how did Kevin Hart's former best friend and co-star become his attempted extortionist? He seemed to have it all: a good career, good friends in the entertainment industry, solid connections, and a chance at really having a good life. So how — and why — did he blow it all?
Let's look at what we know about Jonathan Todd Jackson.
1. Who is Jonathan Todd Jackson? He's an actor who had a pretty steady career.
Billing himself as "J.T. Jackson," Jonathan Todd Jackson had an acting career that was pretty steady, even if it wasn't a "career" that necessarily would have resulted in superstardom. But Jackson had guest roles on such shows as Future Man and S.W.A.T. He also just wrapped up filming his role in the film, Get Lucky.
2. He was a member of Kevin Hart's entourage.
Jackson first met Hart on the set of the film Think Like A Man, and it didn't take long for him to become a part of Hart's entourage. As part of Hart's entourage, Jackson also had "access" to other celebrities, including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Marlon Wayans.
In fact, on his now-private Instagram page, he would frequently post photos with The Rock, Wayans, and countless other celebrities.
3. Jackson first allegedly targeted Hart in September 2017.
In September 2017, Hart took to Instagram to post a video in which he admitted that he had a "lapse in judgment." Though he wasn't clear on what that lapse in judgment was, he made clear that he came clean about it because he had no interest in being extorted by "someone."
Hart didn't identify his attempted extortionist, but the subsequent arrest of Jackson proved it was him.
4. He wanted $10 million.
After Hart posted the "apology" video, it was revealed that his attempted extortionist wanted $10 million to prevent a tape featuring Hart having sex with model Montia Sabbag from going public.
Jackson would later say that he wanted to "get paid" from the tape, and tried to sell the video to celebrity blogs (such as TMZ) when Hart refused to pay up. Hart's then-girlfriend/now-wife, Eniko Parrish Hart, then went public on her Instagram stories in support of her husband.
5. Jackson was first arrested in May 2018.
In May 2018, Jackson was arrested and charged with two felonies: attempted extortion and extortion by threatening letter. If convicted of the charges, Jackson faces up to four years in county jail.
6. Kevin Hart tweeted that he was "hurt" by Jackson's actions.
At the time that Jackson tried to extort Hart, the comedian took to Twitter to express that his "mind was blown" that this was going on. He also said that he was extremely hurt by Jackson's actions.
Hart's extortion attempt was recently documented in the limited Netflix series, Kevin Hart: Don't F**k This Up. The docuseries, which focuses on Hart's career to date touched on the subject of extortion beginning in the second episode, and features Hart getting very personal about Jackson's betrayal.
"To this day there's still a piece of me that's like, 'there's no way,'" he said in the docuseries. "You're speaking in an alleged format but what I was able to take from it was the same hurt that I caused, that individual being my wife, that same level of pain came right back to me. it sucks that what happened happened, but now your eyesight is even more clear."
He elaborated further on his incredulity that his friend could betray him in a tweet:
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.