- Ricky Martin filed a $20 million lawsuit against his cousin, alleging extortion.
- Martin's cousin had previously claimed to be in a romantic relationship with the singer.
Ricky Martin has filed a lawsuit against his nephew, who claimed he had been in a romantic relationship with the singer.
In July, a judge in San Juan issued a protection order for Martin's nephew, Dennis Yadiel Sánchez, after he filed a domestic violence complaint claiming Martin threatened him after he decided to end their seven-month relationship.
The judge lifted the protection order on July 21, and Martin's attorneys said in a statement that the matter "was never anything more than a troubled individual making false allegations with absolutely nothing to substantiate them."
Martin has denied ever having a sexual relationship with his nephew.
Martin' lawsuit against Sánchez, filed in San Juan on Wednesday, alleges extortion and seeks $30 million in damages, according to court documents.
The lawsuit says Sánchez threatened and extorted martin and that "unless he is economically compensated, he will continue with his campaign to assassinate his integrity."
A representative for Martin's attorney, Martin Singer, told Insider that the office has no comment. Sánchez's attorney did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
The complaint claims Sánchez sent Martin "constant messages" on Whatsapp and Instagram from October 2021 to January 2022, sometimes sending more than 10 messages per day. The messages were mostly "meaningless and purposeless diatribes written by a clearly maladjusted individual," the complaint says, adding that Martin would answer "in the role of uncle" to give Sánchez "words of encouragement."
Sánchez had an insistent pattern of trying to gain Martin's attention, once asking Martin to follow him on Instagram, which Martin did not do, and asking if he could take Martin's children to a movie theater, which Martin did not allow, the suit alleges.
Sánchez later posted Martin's cellphone number on social media "as an act of retaliation for the silence and lack of attention" from Martin, who did not respond to messages Sánchez sent him in January, the lawsuit says.
Several months passed with no communication. Sánchez then requested the protection order on July 1.
The lawsuit claims Sánchez took a copy of the protective order to the office of newspaper El Vocero the same day it was granted and left it at the reception desk, intending for it to "be disseminated to the media immediately."
The protective order "irretrievably stained" Martin's reputation and threatened his business opportunities, the lawsuit says.
On July 5, Sánchez contacted the office of attorney Carmelo Dávila, one of Martin's lawyers, to try to negotiate an "economic benefit" for withdrawing the protection order, the lawsuit says. Dávila did not accept the call, according to court documents.