Netflix Hit With Cease and Desist Demands Over Bitfinex Bitcoin Heist Documentary

Attorneys for Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan—the rapper and social media persona—issued cease-and-desist letters to streaming big Netflix on Monday in regards to the documentary “Greatest Heist Ever.”

Morgan is anticipated to report back to federal jail on February 4 for her function in laundering funds tied to an notorious, multi-billion-dollar Bitcoin heist, upon which the documentary is predicated.

The letters shared with Decrypt cited defamation and a violation of California’s two-party recording legal guidelines. The manufacturing firm behind the documentary, Library Movies, was additionally named.

Netflix didn’t instantly reply to Decrypt’s request for remark.

Along with defamation claims, Morgan alleges Netflix and Library Movies violated the privateness of wedding ceremony attendees by filming her ceremony with husband Ilya Lichtenstein with out visitor consent.

“We attended a marriage with no concept that we’d later seem in a Netflix documentary,” Morgan’s lawyer, Serena Wu, instructed Decrypt in an e-mail. “It’s essential to guard and uphold the privateness rights of personal residents.”

The cease-and-desist letter calls for that friends’ likenesses be instantly faraway from the documentary, with no additional use. Attorneys warn that failure to adjust to these requests might lead to authorized motion.

In a separate stop and desist letter, attorneys for Morgan level to a number of statements from the documentary that they are saying are false and defamatory, together with claims that Morgan and Lichtenstein bought stolen passports, debit playing cards, and different “id paperwork” off the darkish net.

These claims don’t have any factual foundation, the letter claimed, and perpetuate the lie that Ms. Morgan was a mastermind behind the “heist.”

“Minimal due diligence would have revealed the falsity of your statements, together with publicly out there court docket filings that verify that Ms. Morgan was not concerned within the underlying hack,” it added.

Morgan’s father-in-law, the cease-and-desist letter claimed, was additionally defamed by being referred to as a hacker within the documentary.

“Whereas this defamatory assertion will not be aimed toward Ms. Morgan, it reinforces the documentary’s disregard for the reality and willingness to make defamatory accusations with none foundation,” the letter stated.

The opposite cease-and-desist letter additionally cites California’s 2021 two-party consent law, arguing that recording wedding ceremony footage with out express approval constitutes a authorized violation.

“Ms. Morgan expressly reserves all of her authorized and equitable rights and cures, together with the precise to hunt injunctive aid and get better financial damages,” the letter stated. “In the event you determine to not adjust to the calls for above, Ms. Morgan will take all steps vital to guard her rights.”

Lichtenstein was convicted of hacking crypto alternate Bitfinex in 2016 and stealing almost 120,000 Bitcoin, or greater than $12 billion price on the present worth. In November, he was sentenced to five years in prison. Morgan, in the meantime, received an 18-month sentence for serving to to launder stolen funds within the case.

Earlier this month, the self-styled rapper launched the first of two new songs, “Razzlekhan vs. The USA,” which was adopted by “Diplomat Pussy” final week.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair and Andrew Hayward