Lauren Sánchez is facing a lawsuit that claims she copied the idea for a children's book from a former friend.

The legal complaint also includes a surprising personal detail, alleging Sánchez once had the nickname "Monica" after expressing interest in former US President Bill Clinton.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in California by yoga instructor Alanna Zabel, who says she worked privately with Sánchez from 2007 to 2010.

Zabel accuses the media personality and helicopter pilot of taking key ideas from her own children's book and using them in Sánchez's later project.

According to the complaint, the nickname "Monica" came from conversations between the two women after Sánchez met Clinton in 2009.

Zabel said the name referenced Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern linked to Clinton during a widely reported political scandal in the 1990s.

"In communications with Sanchez, Zabel sometimes used the name 'Monica' to refer to Sanchez," the lawsuit states.

According to Page Six, Zabel also claimed Sánchez was captivated by the former president after meeting him.

"She said [Clinton] was so sexy and mesmerizing," Zabel told a news outlet. "She really wanted to meet him and get an interview ... She couldn't stop talking about Bill Clinton."

In 2010, Sánchez did interview Clinton for the entertainment news show Extra. At the time, some viewers noticed what they described as playful or flirtatious exchanges during the broadcast.

Lauren Sánchez Denies Book Copying Allegations

However, the lawsuit mainly focuses on claims that Sánchez's 2024 children's book, The Fly Who Flew to Space, copies story elements from Zabel's earlier work, Dharma Kitty Goes to Mars, which was published a year earlier.

Zabel alleges that years before the books were released, the two women discussed creating a children's story together.

The idea reportedly came from a helicopter flight Sánchez once described, where a fly stayed stuck to the windshield during the entire trip.

Because Zabel had already written several children's books, the pair talked about turning the moment into a story.

Zabel said watching the situation unfold has been painful.

"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," she said, referencing Sánchez's 2025 marriage to Jeff Bezos, DNYUZ reported.

The lawsuit also claims the friendship ended abruptly in 2009 after a disagreement at Sánchez's 40th birthday celebration. Zabel says contact between them stopped soon after.

Zabel is seeking unspecified damages for alleged copyright infringement. The lawsuit names Sánchez, publisher The Collective Book Studio and distributor Simon & Schuster as defendants.

Sánchez's lawyers have pushed back strongly. In court filings, they argued that the claim is "frivolous" and said the books are only similar because they are children's stories that involve an unexpected trip to space.

Tags
Lauren sanchez, Bill clinton, Monica