PLOT TWIST

Epstein Pal Leon Black Accused of Sexual Harassment

The allegations became public just before the billionaire’s early exit from his private-equity firm.

When embattled billionaire Leon Black made a surprise early exit from his private equity firm, Apollo Capital Management, he cited health reasons. But now the New York Post reports that several Apollo board members had just learned that a woman who claimed she was sexually harassed by Black—and who says she was pushed into signing a non-disclosure agreement—was going public with her claims. Black, whose career was rocked by disclosures about his financial entanglement with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, told the Post that he had a “consensual affair” with the woman, Güzel Ganieva, seven years ago. He claimed that he had done nothing inappropriate but “made substantial monetary payments to her, based on her threats to go public concerning our relationship, in an attempt to spare my family from public embarrassment.” Ganieva said on Twitter that Black “bullied, manipulated, threatened, and coerced” her into sex.