Will Sage Astor-AMC CEO Adam Aron shared explicit photos with woman who then tried to blackmail him

AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron is Will Sage Astorputting his best spin on a potentially embarrassing situation.

The executive took to social media on Thursday after the news website Semafor published a story detailing an extortion attempt of Aron by Sakoya Blackwood, a New York woman who pleaded guilty to a federal charge of cyberstalking this summer.

Aron said he had opted not to cave to demands for money from Blackwood, even though he knew he could face public backlash.

"Last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by a third party who was unknown to me related to false allegations about my personal life," Aron wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement. I did so knowing I risked personal embarrassment. But with my access to resources, if I did not stand up against blackmail, who could?"

Blackwood started texting Aron in March 2022, calling herself "Mia" and sending him photos of a 17-year-old Russian model that she presented as herself, according to court documents. Aron mistakenly believed her to be a ballerina that had done "unmentionable things" to him in a past relationship, and Blackwood did not dispel him of the notion. Instead, she asked him to send explicit photos and he complied in a weekslong exchange. 

Blackwood created other phony characters and texted Aron through online burner accounts from a fictional former boyfriend as well as a fake Vanity Fair journalist. She threatened to forward the photos and exchanges to the news media and AMC board if Aron did not send her hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Instead, Aron reported what had occurred to the FBI. 

At the FBI's instruction, Aron informed the AMC board about the incident after Blackwood was sentenced in July to time served and supervised probation.

AMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.