Arnar Grant Rejects Extortion Allegations

Arnar Grant issued a statement yesterday rejecting the allegations of extortion made against him and his former partner Vítalía Lazareva, according to Fréttablaðið.

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“Given the occasion: I reject the allegations in which they try to involve me in blackmail in connection with sexual offenses. This is a disgusting attempt to distract the discussion and reduce my credibility as a key witness in the case,” Arnar’s statement says.

Ari Edwald, Hreggviður Jónsson, and Þórður Már Jóhannesson, three prominent Icelandic businessmen, are suing Vítalía and Arnar for extortion, threats, and invasion of privacy. Vítalía went public earlier this year about an incident in October 2020 where the three businessmen allegedly sexually abused her in a hot tub at a holiday home. While some of her social media posts made it seem like she filed a police report, the National Commissioner of Police said no charges of sexual offenses were filed against the three men.

Vítalía apologized to other victims on Twitter, saying she should have known better about filing a police report, according to RÚV.

“I would like to apologize, I apologize for having failed other victims and I want to focus on the fact that I can not take responsibility for all news coverage. I submitted a letter to the police for receiving sexual offenses last March and posted a picture here to confirm it. – I have always thought that filling out such a sheet with questions and questions regarding sexual offenses meant ‘something.’ I have not appeared for questioning, as has often been said, and I have never said otherwise. I apologize. I apologize for not knowing better,” Vítalía wrote on Twitter.

Stundin reported yesterday that earlier settlement negotiations involved a silence agreement, in which Vítalía would be paid a monthly amount over a period of several years. The agreement was never finalised before Vítalía spoke publicly about her story.