Kevin Hart faces $60 million lawsuit over 2017 Las Vegas hotel room recording

Kevin Hart faces a $60 million lawsuit after model and actress Montia Sabbag accused the comedian of negligence, infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy stemming from a 2017 incident, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.

Sabbag made headlines with Hart in September 2017 after a video of the two having sex in a Las Vegas hotel room was uploaded online. She denied speculation at the time that she was suing or extorting the comedian, announcing she wanted to join forces with him against the person who illegally recorded them.

"My pictures and my name have been released with lies written about me," Sabbag told reporters in 2017. "I am not an extortionist. I am not a stripper. I am a recording artist and an actress and I have not broken any laws."

In a new lawsuit filed Sept. 16, 2019, she accuses Jonathan Todd Jackson of secretly recording her "without her knowledge or consent, while she was engaged in private, consensual sexual relations with Hart," according to the documents. Sabbag also is suing Hart, as well as hotel operators Marriott, Blackstone and the Cosmopolitan, for "negligently or intentionally" allowing Jackson access to his hotel room.

USA TODAY has reached out to Hart's representatives and Sabbag's lawyer for comment.
 

The new lawsuit was filed on the eve of the second anniversary of the video's posting.

Sabbag alleges in the lawsuit that she believes Hart worked with Jackson to record her in an attempt to gain publicity for his stand-up comedy "Irresponsible Tour," which began days before the video went public and continued through 2018.

Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represented Sabbag in 2017, referred to Hart as a victim at the time, telling reporters they did not plan to sue Hart or make claims against him.

Hart publicly apologized at the time to his wife Eniko and children Heaven, now 14, and Hendrix, now 11. The couple has since welcomed Kenzo, 1.

"I’m not perfect. I’m not going to sit up here and say that I am, or claim to be in any way shape or form," he said. "And I made a bad error in judgment and I put myself in a bad environment where only bad things can happen, and they did. And in doing that I know that I’m going to hurt the people closest to me, who I talked to and apologized to, that would be my wife and my kids."

Hart is currently recovering from a major back injury after his vintage muscle car crashed in Malibu earlier this month. Eniko Hart told TMZ outside the hospital shortly after the accident that he was "going to be just fine."

Contributing: Andrea Mandell, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kevin Hart faces $60 million lawsuit in 2017 Las Vegas hotel recording