PHOTOS: Extorted celebrites

The onetime supermodel said she was a victim of an extortion attempt involving a photo of her daughter.  (Joel Ryan / Associated Press)

Photographer John Rutter tried to extort $3.3 million from the film star over modeling shots the actress took before she was famous. Rutter was found guilty of attempted grand theft, forgery and perjury.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

The arrest of computer expert Marc Lewis Gittleman, 33, of Los Angeles came one day after authorities confirmed the arrest of David Hans Schmidt, 47, of Arizona for allegedly seeking to extort $1 million from actor Tom Cruise in exchange for returning thousands of stolen photographs of Cruise’s private wedding to Katie Holmes.  (Paul Buck / EPA)

FBI files about Michael Jackson detailed a man as having attempted to extort the late King of Pop, saying, “I will personally attempt to kill [him] if he doesn’t pay me my money.” The man, who pleaded guilty to extortion and was sentenced to prison in 1993, also proclaimed, “I’ll commit mass murder at a Michael Jackson concert if necessary, in an attempt to murder Michael, then you will have to deal with my situation in the public eye.”  (Carlo Allegri / Getty Images)

Two people were convicted in July in connection with an FBI sting aimed at busting a plot to extract $680,000 from John Stamos -- “Mr. X” in the affidavit obtained by the Smoking Gun -- so that pictures taken during a 2004 party wouldn’t be sold to the tabloids and cause harm to the “Full House” and “ER” actor’s reputation.  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

Talk show host David Letterman made on-air admissions of infidelity but would not back down from an extortion attempt.  (Evan Agostini / Associated Press)

The comedian became a target for blackmail after allegedly propositioning a man in a Las Vegas casino in 1993. Though initially paying off the money, he brought the case to the authorities when the criminal got greedy.  (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)