Superstar actor Kevin Hart’s former friend, Jonathan T. Jackson, filed a new motion against the famous comedian, accusing him of witness tampering and dodging arbitration fees.
Jackson spoke exclusively with the Daily Caller about new developments in the years-long battle with Hart, which began shortly after the release of Hart’s infamous sex tape in 2017. Jackson filed documents April 2 in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles, alleging that Hart was dodging payment of agreed upon arbitration fees. Jackson went on to raise concerns about Hart’s communication with a material witness, Miesha Shakes. He claimed that earlier on in their legal battle Hart submitted falsified documents to the DA, an action that allegedly triggered a traumatizing raid on his home and subsequent arrest.
US comedian Kevin Hart attends the Netflix live comedy event “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady” at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, on May 5, 2024. (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Jonathan T. Jackson
Tension between the two former friends began when a sexually explicit video featuring Hart’s extramarital relationship was leaked online. Hart publicly apologized, and accused Jackson of attempting to extort millions from him during the sex tape scandal. Authorities charged Jackson with attempting to extort Hart, but the charges were dropped in 2021.
According to legal documents reviewed by the Daily Caller, Jackson claimed that Hart submitted a fabricated email to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, which falsely accused him of attempting to extort millions. Jackson alleged that the document played a key role in his arrest and ultimately caused significant damage to both his reputation and career.
Jackson also alleged that the district attorney’s office failed to properly verify the purported digital evidence before carrying out the January 2018 raid on his home, when he and his wife were held at gunpoint. He was arrested a few months later, and the case was ultimately dismissed.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 26: Kevin Hart attends the IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 at The IMDb Yacht on July 26, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for IMDb)
Court documents reviewed by the Daily Caller said “despite Plaintiff’s lack of involvement in the creation and dissemination of the sex tape, he was wrongfully implicated in an alleged extortion scheme against Hart. These baseless accusations stemmed from deliberate misrepresentations and false information provided by Hart and his legal team to the District Attorney’s office.”
Jackson’s legal team went on to say, the defendant “fabricated evidence and provided misleading statements that contributed and led to the wrongful implication and arrest of Plaintiff.”
They highlighted the DA’s role in the matter, alleging “officials named in Plaintiff’s Section 1983 complaint, including members of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, contributed to these false accusations by accepting and acting upon the fabricated evidence without proper investigation and verification.” The results of a forensic examination report dated April 23, 2024, were shared with the Daily Caller.
DORAL, FLORIDA – JANUARY 5: Kevin Hart is seen on the set of Telemundo’s “Hoy Dia” morning show to promote the Netflix movie “LIFT” at Telemundo Center on January 5, 2024 in Doral, Florida. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images)
“There was never extortion in any emails, which means Kevin never was extorted,” Jackson told the Daily Caller.
Speaking of the raid and his subsequent arrest, he said, “where was the probable cause?”
“You understand for you to even kick in my door and arrest me and point guns in my face and in my wife’s face, and take us out of the house in front of our neighbors. And, you know, it’s just all of that over a crime that never took place,” Jackson said. “My wife is messed up over it still to this day, my wife has PTSD over that — she cannot rest because of this incident.”
“It exacerbated my PTSD because I was in the military,” he continued.
Legal documents reviewed by the Daily Caller indicate that following the dismissal of charges Jackson and Hart entered into a settlement agreement in 2021 that required Hart to publicly exonerate Jackson.
Their respective legal teams oversaw and agreed upon specific wording Hart was to use in order to effectively comply with their agreement. One of the provisions outlined that a breach would lead to arbitration. Jackson accused Hart of veering off the agreed upon wording, thereby breaching the agreement and opening up the opportunity to bring this matter back to court, which he has done through new motions filed in April 2025.
He was supposed to say, “I had nothing to do with it and, and all charges were dropped,” Jackson told the Daily Caller. “But the way he said it was as if I was judged by my peers. He said I was ‘found’ not guilty. Now, people are thinking that – was in court, by trial. No, the DA dropped the case.”
Jackson said he turned down an offer from Hart in exchange for his silence at one point.
“They offered me money. I turned it down. People don’t know that. They just think that it’s a money grab. And I’m like, ‘No, I turned the money down,’” Jackson told the Daily Caller. “It was 1.5 million. They offered that and I turned it down. I said, ‘You all don’t have enough money to buy my silence.’”
Jackson said that Hart’s alleged breach of their agreement enabled him to take the matter back to public court, and opened up the opportunity for his legal team to assess the details surrounding the allegedly falsified document that passed through the DA’s office.
“We’re asking for $80 million now,” Jackson told the Daily Caller. Jackson also filed a lawsuit against the DA’s office for their role in the handling of the allegedly fabricated evidence.
“We have got the official report that it was fabricated,” Jackson told Daily Caller. To this day, “no one has said anything about this fabrication of evidence. No one has apologized.”
Further complicating matters, Jackson claimed that Hart’s failure to pay arbitration fees delayed their legal proceedings. During that lull, Jackson said he was in communication with Hart’s former employee, Miesha Shakes, a key witness in the case. He alleged that Shakes had been providing him with helpful information and was slated to appear in his upcoming documentary about his legal battle with Hart, but she abruptly withdrew her support.
“She said she was gonna sign a declaration on my behalf. Her and I were actively talking on the phone. She was saying, ‘hey, yeah, you know, Kevin’s telling us, telling me that he doesn’t want me to do this. You know, his lawyers telling me they don’t want me to do this with you,’” Jackson told the Daily Caller.
He said Shakes told him, “they’re threatening my family, threatening my daughter.”
“She’s actually genuinely scared, you understand? And so she said, ‘I’ll sign the Declaration.’ And I said, ‘Alright, great.’ So my lawyer drafted a declaration for her to sign, and we sent it to her, and it was on Sunday. I didn’t hear nothing back from her, and so I contacted her, and my phone just go straight to voicemail. Then she texted me. She said, ‘Yeah, I thought about it. I can’t sign it,’” Jackson said.
He told the Daily Caller that Hart’s team swiftly proposed a settlement agreement to Shakes that included a provision restricting her from communicating with him, including a financial penalty for doing so. Shakes publicly discussed that alleged provision on Instagram in March.
“She was influenced by Kevin Hart,” Jackson told Daily Caller. “They were trying to lock down Miesha Shakes from talking — they told us she can’t do my documentary. She can’t have anything to do with me. That’s in her agreement.”
Referencing Hart in his conversation with the Daily Caller, Jackson said, “you know you’re purposely ignoring us and not paying arbitration fees and getting this arbitration going because you’re trying to back door us and try to go through Shakes to give her a deal so she cannot testify.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 08: Kevin Hart attends the Netflix’s “Lift” World Premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 08, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images,)
“You’re telling that you’re offering money to this woman, if she talks to me, it would be a violation. And she would have to pay them 20 grand. When you start throwing money in there, that’s witness tampering,” Jackson told Daily Caller.
Legal documents filed by Jackson’s attorneys April 23 and reviewed by the Daily Caller alleged Hart called the matter of unpaid fees “moot,” claiming he had paid “the initial $6,750 administration fee to initiate arbitration with Signature Resolution and filed a Demand for Arbitration.”
Jackson’s legal filing noted that “this belated action — taken only after Plaintiff was compelled to file the instant Motion on April 2, 2025, following Defendants’ nearly one-month delay — does not render the Motion moot.” They claimed Hart’s “failure to comply” within the times outlined “deems arbitration waived, restoring the case to the Court’s active docket.”
“I wanted this to stay in public court,” Jackson told Daily Caller.
Jackson’s legal team is pursuing the latest motions filed in court, and Jackson is focused on making sure his experience is presented in legal court, as well as the court of public opinion through the production of his own documentary.
“We’re looking late this year or early January, 2026, and we’re just pretty much going from the start of what happened … and all the way up to present,” Jackson told Daily Caller.
“Kevin is trying to hide what happened – we’re trying to – we’re just trying to expose the truth and let people make their own decision,” he said.
He explained that his documentary is based on indisputable facts.
“I’m using their own words, their own testimony,” Jackson told the Daily Caller. “I’m using the evidence, so therefore it’s not JT [Jackson] is just saying this, saying these things with nothing to back it up.”
“We’re in the process right now getting retired judges, retired attorneys, to just lay out the facts, because this isn’t just about Kevin Hart. This is about the DA, and the corruption in the DAs office as well.”
The Daily Caller asked Jackson what his version of justice looks like today.
“I’m not looking for an apology from Kevin,” he replied. “What I’m looking for is for me, my wife – we’re looking to get our lives back on track.”
“I’ve never been through anything like this in my life,” Jackson told the Daily Caller. “I’m treading in water that I’ve never treaded before. All I want Kevin to do is just clear my name.” (RELATED: Shannon Sharpe Steps Aside From ESPN)
Jackson continued: “I need you to do the right thing, clear my name so I can get back out there to work. I’m over here withering away.”
The Daily Caller has reached out to Hart’s team for comment and did not receive a response in time for publication.
The matter will be heard in court April 30.
