Kevin Hart Sued by Former Friend Jonathan ‘J.T.’ Jackson for Breach of Settlement Following Extortion Case

Jackson filed a $12 million breach of written contract lawsuit claiming Hart didn’t use the wording they’d agreed upon

Kevin Hart is being sued by his former friend Jonathan “J.T.” Jackson following those extortion charges amid the actor’s 2017 sex-tape scandal.

On Wednesday, July 10, Jackson filed a $12 million breach of written contract lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which he accused Hart of not using the wording they’d agreed upon in a July 2021 settlement when he addressed the whole thing on Instagram in October of that year, per court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

In 2018, Jackson was charged with attempting to extort Hart by allegedly threatening to release a sexually explicit video of the actor with someone who wasn’t his wife, Eniko Hart. The charges against Jackson were dropped in September 2021.

The following month, Hart mentioned the charges had been dropped in his Instagram video, but failed to talk too much about his former friend aside from saying the whole thing had affected their relationship and it had put “a fork in the road between he and I and our relationship was lost.”

Per Jackson’s 23-page complaint — which lists Hart and Hartbeat, LLC among the defendants — he stated the star had agreed to use “specific verbiage” that would “publicly exonerate” him and clear his name amid the controversy.

According to the documents, the statement Hart was meant to release “was meticulously negotiated and detailed in the Contract.”
The court docs stated it was, “Absolutely crucial to repairing and remediating the severe damage inflicted upon Plaintiff’s reputation by the baseless extortion allegations that Hart aggressively promoted and publicized.”

The complaint alleged Hart was meant to say he’d “lost someone close to me that I loved and still have very much love for or high levels of love for and I’m proud to say that all charges against JT Jackson have been dropped and he is not guilty and had nothing to do with it and this matter at hand that once was so tough to deal with and so heavy for me and my household is now put to bed.”

Jackson’s attorney, Daniel L. Reback, said in the docs, “Hart’s statement deviates significantly from the agreed-upon verbiage in several crucial aspects.”

“First, Hart’s stipulated verbiage explicitly required him to state that ‘all charges against [Jackson] have been dropped and he is not guilty and had nothing to do with it,’ ” the complaint continued. “However, Hart’s actual statement lacks the explicit declaration of Plaintiff’s innocence or non-involvement.”

“Also, Hart’s agreed-upon statement was to acknowledge the incident’s heavy impact on the loss of a valuable friendship due to the legal matter, but Hart’s actual statement focuses entirely on Hart himself ‘moving on’ and does not directly acknowledge the significant personal and professional toll on Plaintiff as outlined in the Contract,” it added.

The suit also mentioned Hart mentioning the sex-tape scandal in his 2019 Netflix series Kevin Hart: Don’t F— This Up. Jackson claimed the doc sparked further damage to his reputation and career.

In his video, Hart said, “I’m happy that that chapter in my life is over, I’m happy that we’re able to put a period on that sentence, and I’m excited to get back to life as we once knew it,” adding that he wants to “move on.”

According to the documents, Jackson is seeking damages “in excess of $12 million” to be specifically to be determined when the case goes to trial, plus legal costs and fees, and the removal of “all the false statements” in Hart’s docuseries.
After the extortion claims surrounding the sexually suggestive video emerged, Hart apologized to his wife and kids in an Instagram video.

“I’m at a place in my life where I feel like I have a target on my back,” Hart said at the time, in 2017.

“And because of that, I should make smart decisions. And recently, I didn’t,” he added. “You know, 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. 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.”

Reback tells PEOPLE now, “We are confident that the lawsuit will end with Mr. Jackson’s complete victory and vindication.”

Hart’s attorney and rep didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE