Tech CEO accused of forcing ex-assistant to be his 'sex slave' claims Hollywood lawyer tried to lure him into $10MILLION payday over text by threatening he'd be exposed on 'major media outlet'

An ex-tech CEO accused of forcing his assistant into a 'slave contract' that saw her sex trafficked around the world has claimed the accusations only surfaced after a powerful lawyer attempted to extort him for $10million.

Christian Lanng, the 45-year-old who left Silicon Valley's Tradeshift in September of last year when the allegations surfaced, made the claims in a countersuit filed Tuesday in Northern California District Court.

The suit cites text messages sent from high-profile Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman to Lanng in September as supposed proof of the alleged extortion plot.

A month before, the lawyer - who's represented the likes of Don Lemon and Bethenny Frankel - appeared on TMZ, touting up a copy of a document emblazoned with the phrase 'slave contract'.

The document had names on it redacted, and was produced as Freedman spoke about a separate case. Lanng's lawyers, however, claim the display was 'a clear threat to counterclaimant,' one made before the alleged extortion attempt.

Langg says the lawyer threatened to leak the story to TMZ if the sum was not paid.

Fallen San Francisco CEO Christian Lanngcall allegedly made a woman call him 'Master' while trafficking her around the world. He stepped down in October of last year when the allegations surfaced, and says the claims only came when he refused to play ball with a lawyer handling the case

Enter high-profile Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman, who appeared on TMZ back in August touting a document emblazoned with the phrase 'slave contract'. Lanng's lawyers claim the display was 'a clear threat to counterclaimant,' one made before an outright extortion attempt

'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 September 4 text, introducing himself as the counsel representing the woman who filed the initial suit exactly a month after the TMZ clip aired.

'They can have you appear by [Z]oom,' he continued.

'It is unfortunate that your former lawyer allowed it to get to this point.

'But your failure to resolve this has led to permanent and irreparable harm to all that have been harmed.  

'Throwing away your future and the mental well being of these victims never needed to happen.'

Sent just before 6pm PT, Lanng responded later that night. 

'Bryan I will get back ASAP with new counsel,' wrote the founder of a firm that's raised $1.1billion from investors like Goldman Sachs, PayPal Ventures, West River, and Koch Industries since its founding.

'Any kind of media will not help achieve any outcome I'm afraid.'

Another text from Freedman came a little more than 12 hours later, the lawsuit indicates, attaching screen grabs of the exchange.

It was in this correspondence that Lanng says the lawyer broke the law.

'Christian, I don't control media as you know but once filed[,] cases take on lives of their own,' the lawyer wrote on September 5, looking for a settlement.

'Obviously making payment avoids the filing. Is that happening today?' 

He goes on to claim that a previous party by the name of Bruce 'offered 10m paid by 8/15. 

'If that happened there would be no reason to file,' he asserted.

'Let me know if you want to avoid this being much more difficult as out papers are ready to go.'

Within minutes, Lanng responded: 'Payments can only happen if I close my secondary deal, that's the reality.

'I have no other assets and any media will take it

'Happy to explain in detail.'

Seemingly incensed, Freedman offered one final reply to Lanng before the correspondence cuts off, the counter suit shows - before becoming embroiled in the bitter case.

The suit cites text messages sent from the high-profile Hollywood attorney to Lanng in September as supposed proof of the alleged extortion plot

'There is a different story all the time,' Freedman wrote, still on September 5.

'I would rather not see your future compromised by how many promises can be broken without action being taken. 

'I imagine you understand the mental state I am dealing with,' he went on, citing Lanng's former staffer's alleged state of mind at the time. 

'Obviously better for lawyers to get clients money[,] but ethically I have no choice but to follow my clients[sic] decisions. 

'I was brought in for a conclusion,' he concluded. 'The unfortunate part is the lasting effect on your ability to do business 

'[I]t's a shame that you make this go away instead of permanent destruction.'

Weeks later, the suit was filed, by a woman who says she was forced to sign the same 'sex slave contract' Freedman flaunted back in August.

The 'shocking and repulsive' document was aired in full in the initial lawsuit, which claimed the staffer, just several months into her employment, was forced to sign it.

Containing stipulations like having to call Lanng 'Master', the arrangement caused her work and personal life to spiral into "a dark abyss of unwanted sexual horror,' the original lawsuit claims.

Weeks later, the suit was filed, by a woman who says she was forced to sign the same 'sex slave contract' Freedman flaunted back in August

Containing stipulations like having to call Lanng 'Master', the arrangement caused her work and personal life to spiral into "a dark abyss of unwanted sexual horror,' the original suit claims

That suit was filed after Lanng already agreed to pay the victim, referred to only as Jane Doe, the $10 million 'despite his innocence' - as part of a May 2022 settlement agreement reached 'for the sake of trying to salvage the potential sale of Tradeshift.'

The texts from Freedman, meanwhile, arrived month after banking firm HSBC announced it had made a $35 million investment into Tradeshift as part of a new joint venture.

The plaintiff claims her employment was terminated at the $2.7 billion company came to an end in May 2020, after she complained to the company's HR department, its co-founders and members of its board of directors about her 'suffering at the hands' of Laang.

'Rape, sexual abuse, torture and assault' are among some of the things she said seh was subjected to under the slave contract - a document that Lanng claims in his countersuit was 'merely a sexual prop downloaded from the internet.'

Lawyers for the CEO said the NSFW document was 'merely a sexual prop downloaded from the internet,' and was 'by no means intended to be enforceable' in the workplace. 

He further alleged that Freedman’s Los Angeles-based Freedman Taitelman + Cooley LLP 'hired third parties to develop fake websites and Twitter accounts to fabricate accounts of misconduct by Lanng in early 2023,' attaching tweets from the phony profiles as proof,

Lawyers for the CEO said the NSFW document was 'merely a sexual prop downloaded from the internet,' and was 'by no means intended to be enforceable' in the workplace

He further alleged that Freedman’s Los Angeles-based Freedman Taitelman + Cooley LLP 'hired third parties to develop fake websites and Twitter accounts to fabricate accounts of misconduct by Lanng in early 2023,' attaching tweets from the phony profiles as proof

Lanng was fired from Tradeshift in September for 'gross misconduct on multiple grounds' following 'serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment', brass from the $2.7billion firm he founded said

One such post, published two months after the suit was filed, read: 'To Christian and the entire Tradeshift board: I’m not going anywhere. None of us are. This is just the beginning.'

The motive for this was 'embarrassing and intimidating Lanng so that he would agree to pay even more money than the sum already paid,' the countersuit claims.

Both suits, as of writing, remain ongoing. 

A spokesperson for Freedman slammed the countersuit as an attempt by Lanng 'to play victim. 

'It’s nothing but further abuse and a desperate attempt to deflect from his own illegal conduct,' he told The New York Post.