Lauren Sánchez, a well-known journalist and fiancée of Jeff Bezos, is facing a lawsuit filed by her former yoga instructor, Alana Zabel, over alleged plagiarism.
Zabel claims that Sánchez copied the idea for her children's book, The Fly Who Flew to Space, from Zabel’s book Dharma Kitty Goes to Mars, published in 2022.
According to Zabel, who taught Sánchez yoga between 2007 and 2011, the two were in contact in 2022 to discuss Zabel’s concept for a book about a cat flying to Mars. Zabel alleges that 60% of the content from her book was replicated in Sánchez’s work. Before Sánchez’s book was published in March 2023, Zabel sent two cease-and-desist letters demanding an end to the alleged infringement, but no action was taken.
In the lawsuit, Zabel accuses Sánchez of breaching trust and misusing intellectual property, describing her actions as "persistent and outrageous acts of jealousy." Zabel believes that Sánchez’s motives are personal, related to her desire to publicly present herself as a philanthropist and caring individual, while in reality, she is allegedly trying to imitate Zabel’s lifestyle and commitment to public service.
Despite Zabel’s offer to donate the proceeds from her book to the Bezos Earth Fund and the Bezos Academy, her project did not attract the same attention as Sánchez’s book, which became a bestseller in the U.S., appearing on the USA TODAY and The New York Times bestseller lists. Sánchez has publicly expressed her excitement over the success of her book, emphasizing that the story holds a special place in her heart, celebrating overcoming challenges and the power of dreams.
As Zabel seeks compensation and a jury trial, the case may become more complex. It raises the question of why Sánchez, who is engaged to the second-richest man in the world, would feel the need to copy ideas from her former yoga instructor, with whom she has not been in contact for over 13 years.
