Lauren Sanchez has been accused of launching an extraordinary 16-year campaign of ‘revenge’ against a former close friend on the eve of her sumptuous wedding.
The ongoing fight started over whether Sanchez or Alanna Zabel was the better dancer to the 2009 hit Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas.
Now it has culminated with Zabel accusing Sanchez – who is due to marry Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in a lavish ceremony in Venice, Italy next week – of copyright infringement and breach of contract in a federal lawsuit.
The suit, filed in California, claims Sanchez, now 55, has harbored ‘resentment’ against Zabel ever since the dance-off at the bride-to-be’s 40th birthday party.
In the lawsuit seen by DailyMail.com, Zabel, 52, claims that when guests preferred her moves, Sanchez ‘flicked her away’ and turned her back on her ‘in a dramatic, humiliating way’.
In revenge Sanchez allegedly stole the storyline for her 2024 children’s book, The Fly Who Flew To Space – a New York Times bestseller – from Zabel’s book, Dharma Kitty Goes to Mars.
Yoga instructor Alanna Zabel has accused former friend Lauren Sanchez of launching an extraordinary campaign of ‘revenge’ against her, which included her allegedly plagiarizing her idea for her children’s book
Sanchez, 55, allegedly stole the idea for Zabel’s children’s book, ‘The Fly Who Flew To Space’, which became a New York Times bestseller from Zabel’s book, ‘Dharma Kitty Goes to Mars’, which was released in 2022
Sanchez ripped off the idea ‘scene for scene, plot point by plot point, and page by page,’ Zabel claims.
According to the suit, Sanchez also ‘trolled’ Zabel by designing her space suit to look like the one in her book during her April trip into space aboard a Blue Origin vessel.
The scorched earth lawsuit also claims that Sanchez once had such a crush on Bill Clinton – whom she interviewed on Extra in 2010 – that she reveled in being nicknamed ‘Monica’, after Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern who had an affair with the then-president.
Zabel’s allegations against Sanchez, who is set to marry Bezos, 61, in Venice on his $500million yacht, Koru, are copyright infringement and breach of contract. She is asking for unspecified damages.
DailyMail.com has contacted Sanchez for comment.
The lawsuit reveals Sanchez’s alleged takedown of a person who was once very close to her.
Sanchez was working as a TV reporter and was married to Hollywood talent agent Patrick Whitesell when she met Zabel at a yoga class she was teaching at sports commentator Rich Eisen and his wife Suzy Shuster’s home in 2008
The scorched earth lawsuit also claims that Sanchez once had such a crush on Bill Clinton that she loved being nicknamed ‘Monica’, after White House intern Monica Lewinsky
Zabel who previously worked with Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine, states that she began giving private yoga classes to sports commentator Rich Eisen and his wife Suzy Shuster in 2008.
Sanchez, a socialite who was working as a TV reporter and was married to Hollywood talent agent Patrick Whitesell at the time, attended a class in Eisen’s home and asked Zabel to give her private lessons too.
Zabel and Sanchez ‘became close friends’ with the instructor giving her student gifts including several of her children’s books and clothing from her AZIAM activewear range.
The lawsuit states: ‘Zabel’s and Sanchez’s friendship became so close that Sanchez shared with Zabel intimate details about her life including details about her cosmetic surgeries, details about breastfeeding her child, and intimate details about her relationships.
‘As another example of the closeness of their friendship, in communications with Sanchez, Zabel sometimes used the name ‘Monica’ to refer to Sanchez.
‘This was a fun, personal nickname that Zabel used for Sanchez because Sanchez had shared that she had a romantic interest in Bill Clinton after she met him in 2009. Sanchez seemed to have enjoyed this nickname.’
According to the lawsuit, the friendship between the two women extended to them working together on a children’s book: Sanchez even signed a non-disclosure agreement.
They also discussed working on a 21-day fitness program inspired by Zabel’s book ‘As I Am’ – but then they fell out.
The lawsuit states that the rift occurred in November 2009 when Sanchez invited Zabel to her 40th birthday party at the ritzy Music Box club in West Hollywood.
The event was packed with A-list stars with Rick Springfield performing.
The lawsuit states: ‘During the party, the song Boom Boom Pow began to play, and Sanchez called for Zabel to join her on the dance floor.
‘Even though no one else was dancing, Zabel joined Sanchez on the dance floor, after all it was Sanchez’s birthday party.
Zabel’s lawsuit claims Sanchez ripped off the idea ‘scene for scene, plot point by plot point, and page by page
‘A significant number of the party attendees looked on as Sanchez and Zabel remained the only ones on the dance floor,’ the suit claims.
‘As the dancing continued, the onlookers paid more attention to Zabel’s dancing rather than to Sanchez (likely because Zabel’s dancing outshined Sanchez).’
But Sanchez ‘grew frustrated’ with the attention Zabel was getting, the lawsuit states.
‘Eventually, Sanchez flicked Zabel away and turned her back on Zabel in a dramatic, humiliating way. Feeling deeply embarrassed, Zabel left the party immediately.’
The following day, Zabel went to see Sanchez to offer a refund for the yoga sessions she had prepaid for.
She told her she was not working with her any more because she ‘did not deserve to be treated the way Sanchez had treated her at the party’.
Among Zabel’s alleged gifts to Sanchez were outfits from her AZIAM action-wear line (right)
When Zabel cooled off and tried to reconcile Sanchez allegedly ‘ghosted’ her.
The lawsuit states: ‘Sanchez has harbored resentment toward Zabel since this incident and has sought ways to exact revenge.
‘One way Sanchez did so was by copying Zabel’s children’s book, Dharma Kitty Goes to Mars, and infringing Zabel’s copyright.’
The lawsuit states that Sanchez ‘clearly’ knows about Zabel’s children’s books – she has written 17 to date – and ‘specifically’ knows about ‘Dharma Kitty’.
According to Zabel, by 2019 she thought that Sanchez had ‘matured’ because she had begun dating Bezos.
That year the pair had a chance meeting at Zabel’s yoga studio while Sanchez was taking a class: they had a ‘big hug’ and a brief catch up.
Sanchez’s book, The Fly Who Flew to Space, came out in September 2024
In 2022, Zabel reached out to Sanchez after hearing she had been appointed vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, one of Bezos’ philanthropic endeavors.
Zabel shared specific ideas about a cat who flies to Mars and suggested they could donate the proceeds to the Earth Fund.
Zabel also contacted Bezos informing him of the book and got a response saying that ‘Bezos had received the email and had directed his team to assist’.
Zabel didn’t get any further response so published her book in December 2022.
Sanchez’s book came out in September 2024 and, Zabel alleges, was not inspired by her experience flying with a fly in her helicopter, as she claims according to the lawsuit.
‘In fact, for each page of Sanchez’s book, the primary subject matter and/or action is taken directly from Zabel’s book,’ the lawsuit states.
According to the suit, Sanchez also ‘trolled’ Zabel by designing her space suit to look like the one in her book during her trip earlier this year into space aboard a Blue Origin vessel
The filing includes a page by page comparison of the two books and claims ‘the level of similarity’ between them could not have occurred without Sanchez copying Zabel’s work.
Among the similar scenes is a fly looking out the window as its spaceship flies away from Earth, and the main character looking out the window as they ascend upwards.
Among the other claims is that Sanchez was ‘trolling’ Zabel with the design of her spacesuit during her trip on board a Blue Origin vessel in April with an all-female crew which included Katy Perry and Gayle King.
Instead of wearing an outfit similar to the other crew members, ‘The space suit Sanchez designed instead closely resembles the space suit worn by the main character in Dharma Kitty Goes to Mars,’ Zabel claims.
Zabel also accuses Sanchez of using her ‘connections, including her engagement to Jeff Bezos and her connections with the Kardashian family’ to get her own book on the New York Times bestseller list.
The lawsuit states that by making her own book a bestseller, Sanchez aimed to ‘show up’ Zabel because she was using her story.
Zabel claims the ordeal has caused her ‘severe distress’ and ‘detracted both psychologically and economically from Zabel’s experience of sharing her book’.
In addition to damages, Zabel is seeking a permanent injunction forcing Sanchez to comply with the non disclosure agreement she signed.
Sanchez has been dating Amazon founder Bezos since 2018. Before that he was married for 26 years to MacKenzie Scott
Sanchez interviewed Clinton in March 2010 after his emergency heart surgery to insert a stent. In 2004, he had had quadruple bypass surgery.
In the interview, which Sanchez did while working as a reporter for celebrity news show Extra, she smiled when the former president explained he had not been taking care of himself and he needed to exercise six days a week.
‘We know that’s not going to happen’, Sanchez said,
Clinton replied: ‘No, we do, we do, actually, so I’m exercising more, I’m sleeping a little more every night, and I’m trying to be even more rigorous about the diet’.
Pursing her lips, Sanchez said: ‘Which means?’
Clinton said he was going to eat lots of salads, fruit and vegetables and stay clear of anything that clogged his arteries.
Sanchez said: ‘So no fun, right?
Zabel had sued Sanchez before in a court in state court in Los Angeles but withdrew the suit.
She then sued in federal court shortly before the LA wildfires struck.
Her refiled paperwork claims she was evacuated twice and volunteered at a trauma clinic in Pacific Palisades, one of the worst affected areas – until it burned down.
Zabel says that she worked at a school as a mindfulness instructor and at a school where six of her children lost their homes.
Feeling ‘overwhelmed’ by the emergency, Zabel asked Sanchez for more time to prepare for her lawsuit but she refused, the lawsuit states.
As a result Zabel withdrew the lawsuit for a second time and refiled it this week.
