Adam Spaw, a former boyfriend of actress Mischa Barton, made headlines of his own after allegedly trying to sell sex tapes of her, which her legal team, headed by Lisa Bloom, deemed “revenge porn.”
In March 2017, Barton obtained a temporary restraining order against Spaw and another ex-boyfriend Jon Zacharias. In the petitions, Barton attempted to halt the potential sale of a sex tape she claims was made against her will. At the time of the request, Commissioner Laura Hymowitz’s directed both Spaw, then-39, and then-30-year-old Jon Zacharias to stay at least 100 yards from Barton, her home, her workplace, her car and even her dogs. Hymowitz also ordered them not to sell or distribute the naked images or show them to anyone else in the interim.
In a sworn statement, Barton said that after she broke up with Zacharias, she began dating Spaw. She said her new boyfriend seemed to want to help her delete the photos from Zacharias’ computer, but then took advantage of her and allegedly forged checks from her account.
On June 5, 2017, Barton reached an agreement with Zacharias in which he agreed permanently not sell or distribute the tape. Spaw also agreed to the same. Barton’s petition states that Zacharias recorded the former couple having sex, took naked photos of the actress without her knowledge, then allegedly tried to sell the tapes for $500,000.
In July 2017, Barton took to the stand during the ongoing lawsuit said Spaw, despite having a restraining order against him, had been showing up at different places looking for her.
At the time, the reported that the actress said, “He doesn’t seem to understand the TRO … I definitely feel he’s been stalking me. I look over my shoulder all the time when I’m walking. He’s intimidating. He’s 6-foot-4. I would be terrified to see him.”
In November 2017, Barton and Spaw reached a settlement in Los Angeles Superior Court, in which Spaw agreed not to release a tape of the actress having sex with Zacharias, but also did not admit he has such a video. Spaw agreed to a five-year stay-away order as well as a permanent promise to not sell, distribute or show any intimate photos or videos of her.
However, in signing the agreement, Spaw did not admit he possesses or attempted to sell any intimate photos or videos of the actress, according to the settlement documents, reported NBC Los Angeles at the time.
Barton’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom said in a statement, “I am pleased that we were able to block sale or distribution of the explicit images of Ms. Barton that were shopped around earlier this year. After months of litigation, we have reached a settlement that gives us everything we wanted: stay away orders, and a promise not to distribute or post the images, ever.”
