Montia Sabbag Comes Forward as Woman in Kevin Hart Recordings: "I'm Not an Extortionist"

See what happened during a press conference with the recording artist & her attorney

By Jess Cohen Sep 20, 2017 6:17 PMTags

The woman at the center of Kevin Hart's extortion case has made a statement.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Montia Sabbag confirmed she's the woman in the leaked footage with Hart, but says 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."

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Sabbag's attorney Bloom also released a statement about the case. 

"I am attorney Lisa Bloom and I am very pleased to represent Montia Sabbag," the statement begins. "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 continues, "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."

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Bloom also wants to make it clear that her client is not seeking money from the actor.

"Montia and I are not asking for a cent from Kevin Hart," Bloom says. "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."

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After making their statements, Bloom opened the floor to questions. When asked what the date was that Hart and her client were together, Bloom said it was "approximately a month ago in Las Vegas." Later when asked how long Sabbag and Hart were together, Bloom responded, "It was briefly about a month ago."

Bloom said that she doesn't believe in lie detector tests but, "We 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."

When asked if Hart had reached out to her client, Bloom told reporters "not recently," but that there "have been discussions in the past." The topic then comes up about sex tapes and Bloom is asked if it is her belief that there are sex tapes out there.

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."

She was then asked to confirm if she was saying if her client and Hart had a "sexual relationship," to which Bloom replied that Sabagg had an "intimate relationship" with Hart "about a month ago, yes." She also later confirms that it was at a hotel.

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."

—Additional reporting by Alli Rosenbloom.