Lauren Sánchez Bezos once had her sights set on ex-President Bill Clinton, earning her the nickname “Monica,” according to a former friend’s lawsuit.
Sánchez revealed she had a romantic interest in the former president after meeting him in 2009, according to yoga instructor Alanna Zabel. She claims in a lawsuit that she then gave her pal the cheeky nickname in reference to infamous intern Monica Lewinsky, who Clinton had an affair with.
“In communications with Sanchez, Zabel sometimes used the name ‘Monica’ to refer to Sanchez,” according to the lawsuit, in which Zabel claims the helicopter pilot stole her idea for a children’s book.
Zabel claims Sánchez, married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell at the time, “seemed to have enjoyed this nickname.”
“She said [Clinton] was so sexy and mesmerizing,” Zabel separately told The Post.
“She really wanted to meet him and get an interview … She couldn’t stop talking about Bill Clinton.”
In 2010, Sanchez did interview Clinton for TV show “Extra,” and fans noticed their flirty exchanges at the time.
The personal anecdote is one of several referenced in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California and names Sánchez, publisher The Collective Book Studio and distributor Simon & Schuster as defendants.
Zabel alleges Sánchez’s 2024 book “The Fly Who Flew to Space” copies key elements from her children’s title “Dharma Kitty Goes to Mars,” published a year earlier.
According to the complaint, the two women first discussed the idea of creating a children’s book together years earlier after Sánchez recounted a helicopter trip with a fly stuck to the windshield the entire flight. Knowing Zabel had written numerous kids’ books, the pair talked about drawing inspiration from the moment into a story.
“It’s paralyzing to watch a former client with a vendetta against you who marries the richest guy in world, then takes your hearts passion and pretends it’s hers,” Zabel told The Post, referencing Sanchez’s 2025 marriage to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Zabel claims that after years of friendship, Sanchez cut off all contact with her in 2009, after the yoga teacher upstaged her pal on the dancefloor of her 40th birthday party.
Zabel claims in her lawsuitSánchez took plot points, story arcs and subject matter from her book.
The yogi told The Post she believes Sanchez felt inferior to Jeff Bezos’ novelist ex-wife, McKenzie Scott, and wanted him to believe she cared about things he did.
Scott wrote novels “The Testing of Luther Albright” in 2005 and “Traps” in 2013.
Zabel is seeking unspecified damages for alleged copyright infringement.
However, Sanchez’s attorneys argue her “claim is frivolous,” according to an August 2025 court filing.
“The Works are not similar other than the fact that they are both children’s books that involve a spontaneous trip to space,” it read.
“(Zabel) does not own the concept of a school-age character unexpectedly taking a trip to and from space.
“(Zabel) attacks Ms.Sanchez with irrelevant allegations that she is jealous of Plaintiff, ‘harbor[s] resentment towards,’ and is out ‘to exact revenge’ or is ‘trolling’ Plaintiff.
“Those allegations are irrelevant to a copyright infringement analysis, but are clearly intended to color this Court against Ms. Sanchez in the hope that it will think there is no smoke without fire. This Court should disregard them.”
Sánchez’s rep declined to comment to The Post about the allegations in the complaint, which have not been proven in court. The case is ongoing in California.
Zabel previously made headlines when she had a falling out with another former client, singer Adam Levine, publicly claiming the Maroon 5 frontman, 45, “treated her like trash.”
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