Lauren Sánchez, the fiancée of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is being sued by her former yoga instructor for allegedly plagiarizing the instructor’s children’s book.
In the lawsuit, which was obtained by TMZ, Alanna Zabel alleges that Sánchez’s children’s book The Fly Who Flew To Space, which was published in August, substantially rips off her 2022 children’s book Dharma Kitty Goes To Mars.
Zabel, who sent Sánchez two cease-and-desist letters ahead of the latter book’s publication, claims to have contacted the high-profile entertainment reporter in 2022 to pitch a children’s book concept about a cat who flies to Mars.
The yoga instructor, who says she taught Sánchez from 2007 to 2010, alleges in the lawsuit that the theft is related to Sánchez’s ‘continual and outrageous acts of jealousy’ over the years.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Zabel and a representative for Sanchez to request comment.
Lauren Sánchez, the fiancée of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is being sued by her former yoga instructor for allegedly plagiarizing the instructor’s children’s book
In the lawsuit, which was obtained by TMZ , Alanna Zabel alleges that Sánchez’s children’s book The Fly Who Flew To Space, which was published in August, substantially rips off her 2022 children’s book Dharma Kitty Goes To Mars
Zabel accuses Sánchez of copying parts of her book to get back at her for quitting as her yoga instructor more than a decade ago.
The instructor, who notably filed her lawsuit without a lawyer, doesn’t specify what kind of ‘jealousy’ Sánchez allegedly displayed.
However, she does accuse Sánchez of having ‘always demonstrated a desire to appear like [Zabel], an authentic, independent, free-spirited, hard working and public service oriented yoga instructor.’
As she describes it, the relationship could have had a modest benefit for Bezos-affiliated charities, as she claims that the proceeds for the book would have benefitted the Bezos Earth Fund and Bezos Academy.
Bezos used $10 billion in 2020 to create the Bezos Earth Fund, which doles out grants to projects combating climate change and preserving nature spaces, with an emphasis on projects that will be completed within the current decade, rather than on more speculative, long-term projects.
The former Amazon CEO’s Bezos Academy stresses the importance of preschool in children’s development and works to build Montessori-style preschools in underserved communities.
In April, Zabel told DailyMail.com that she was furious when Sánchez announced her own children’s book in January of 2023.
‘I’m deeply offended, and I am taking legal action with the book,’ she said at the time.
Zabel said that she had spent time at Sánchez’s house while working as her instructor, and she had shared her love of children’s books and even discussed the prospect of helping Sánchez write a children’s book with her brother Michael.
She shared that she had ended her services for Sánchez due to relentless ‘gossiping,’ and added that she ‘couldn’t handle her personality anymore,’ but Zabel added that the two had remained cordial in the subsequent years.
However, she also labeled Sánchez a ‘toxic person.’
According to her, Sánchez never responded to proposal’s for what became Dharma Kitty Goes To Mars that she sent her, but she says Bezos’ office did confirm receipt of the materials.
Zabel accuses Sánchez of copying parts of her book to get back at her for quitting as her yoga instructor more than a decade ago. She sent two cease-and-desist letters after Sánchez announced her book in January 2023, two months after Zabel’s was published
The yoga instructor, who says she taught Sánchez from 2007 to 2010, alleges in the lawsuit that the theft is related to Sánchez’s ‘continual and outrageous acts of jealousy’ over the years; Sánchez pictured September 12 in NYC
Zabel accuses Sánchez of having ‘always demonstrated a desire to appear like [Zabel], an authentic, independent, free-spirited, hard working and public service oriented yoga instructor’
Zabel told DailyMail.com in April that she had spent time at Sánchez’s house while working as her instructor, and she had shared her love of children’s books and even discussed the prospect of helping Sánchez write a children’s book with her brother Michael
While Lauren never responded to Alanna’s emails or Instagram messages, Zabel claims Bezos’ office did respond to confirm receipt of an email sent in November 2022 about her book; Sánchez and Bezos pictured in March in La
Zabel’s suit claims that the media figure’s book features more than 60 percent of similar text and story, though the methodology for arriving at that percentage is unclear.
However, as TMZ notes, several children’s books have been released in 2024 alone about characters venturing into space.
There have also been multiple children’s books featuring insects as main characters in the past year.
Zabel is known for teaching yoga to several of celebrity clients, including Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and author Deepak Chopra.
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