Tech CEO accused of keeping assistant as ‘sex slave’ claims celebrity lawyer attempted $10M shakedown

A tech CEO who allegedly forced a former assistant to become his “sex slave” claims the accusations surfaced only after a powerful Hollywood lawyer attempted to shake him down for $10 million for a “quick payday,” The Post has learned.

Christian Lanng — who left the helm of San Francisco-based tech unicorn Tradeshift in October over allegations of “serious assault and harassment” — claims in an explosive countersuit that a month earlier he was getting threatening text messages from Bryan Freedman, a Los Angeles attorney whose celebrity clients include ex-CNN host Don Lemon and reality-TV star Bethenny Frankel.

“I have been asked by a major media outlet if you would appear to explain your side of the story this week in conjunction with the claims being filed,” Freedman told Lanng in a Sept. 4 text message, according to the countersuit filed in the US Northern District of California.

The media outlet was TMZ, where Freedman had appeared the previous month, holding up a copy of an alleged “slave contract” with the names blacked out, according to the Tuesday suit. TMZ is owned by Fox Corp., which shares a common owner with the New York Post.

While Freedman purportedly appeared on TMZ for a separate case about his reality TV-star clientele, he held up a copy of the redacted “slave contract” while on camera — “a clear threat to counterclaimant,” per Lanng’s camp, who have maintained that Lanng and his accuser, known in court papers as Jane Doe, were in a consensual relationship.

The day after the initial Sept. 4 text, Freedman messaged Lanng again, writing, “Christian, I don’t control media as you know but once filed cases take on lives of their own,” according to court papers. “Obviously, payment avoids the filing. Is that happening today? Bruce offered 10m filed by 8/15.