Ricky Martin Hits Back at Nephew With $20M Lawsuit

After a nephew accused Ricky Martin of sexual abuse and then abruptly withdrew his court claim on the matter against the singer, Martin has filed his own lawsuit against the nephew. Martin filed the $20 million suit against Dennis Yadiel Sanchez on Wednesday in Puerto Rico, TMZ reports. In his filing, Martin says that even after withdrawing his request for a restraining order, Sanchez has continued to send Martin messages threatening to "assassinate his reputation and integrity" unless Martin gives him money. The filing notes that the allegations were all "based on falsehoods," and that Sanchez "admitted under oath that he had never been sexually assaulted by [Martin]."

Martin says he's been "persecuted, besieged, harassed, stalked and extorted by a maladjusted person," and adds that for four months before Sanchez filed for the restraining order, he was making public boasts about his relationship to Martin and messaging Martin multiple times a day, sometimes more than 10. He says Sanchez got upset when Martin failed to follow Sanchez on social media, People reports. He also claims Sanchez was upset Martin ignored Sanchez's requests to make Instagram accounts for Martin's children, and that Sanchez ended up making an account for one of them himself. He also allegedly posted Martin's phone number to his own Instagram account. Martin says he feels "unsafe" and has also lost out on lucrative deals due to the allegations. (More Ricky Martin stories.)