Man who police say attempted to extort Kevin Hart over a sex tape identified as comedian’s good friend

THE man who allegedly attempted to coerce Kevin Hart into paying for a sex video has been identified as his friend of more than 15 years.

THE man who allegedly attempted to extort Kevin Hart over a sex tape has been identified as the American comedian’s friend of more than 15 years.

Jonathan Todd “J.T.” Jackson had a ‘highly produced’ videotape of the actor having sex with a woman in Las Vegas, and attempted to extort money from Hart to keep it secret, police say.

Jackson, a relatively unknown actor, was charged with two felony counts of extortion and was held on $100,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.

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Kevin Hart with his friend Jonathan Todd "JT" Jackson, who has been arrested for extortion. Picture: Twitter/Robert Littal

“Jackson is accused of trying to extort an undisclosed amount of money from Hart between Aug. 25 and Aug. 30, 2017,” a press release from the DA’s office read.

“Jackson allegedly had a videotape of the actor with a woman in Las Vegas and then is accused of trying to sell the recording to numerous celebrity news websites, prosecutors said.”

The alleged liaison, which has reportedly been captured on a five-minute long tape, went down last summer while Hart’s wife Eniko was pregnant with their first son, Kenzo, who was born in November last year.

Hart is said to be devastated by the news. Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for CinemaCon

Hart was forced to publicly admit he cheated on his pregnant wife after the story made headlines.

If convicted of the offences, Jackson could face up to four years in county jail.

It has only emerged today that he was a close member of the Jumanji star’s entourage, with Hart reportedly incredibly upset about the situation.

“Mind blown … Hurt … at a lost (sic) for words and simply in complete disbelief at the moment. WOW,” he cryptically tweeted Wednesday.