NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A New York state appeals

court ruled in favor of billionaire investor Leon Black on

Thursday, rejecting a defamation claim by a woman who also

accused the Apollo Global Management ( APO ) co-founder of rape

and sexual abuse.

In a 4-1 decision, the Appellate Division in Manhattan said

Guzel Ganieva's October 2015 non-disclosure agreement covered

all her claims against Black, including that he defamed her by

saying she tried to extort him.

It also said that even if Ganieva signed the agreement under

duress, she "ratified" it by accepting $9 million from Black,

including a $100,000 monthly stipend, before suing in June 2021.

"We recognize the trauma attendant upon sexual abuse," the

majority wrote. "However, we disagree with the dissent that the

same principle should allow plaintiff to repudiate a contractual

arrangement after accepting its benefits for over five years."

Black denied Ganieva's claims.

The dissenting judge said Ganieva was entitled to sue

because the former Russian model remained under "the same

continuing duress" until March 2021 when she first spoke out

about her six-year relationship with Black, which ended in 2014.

Ganieva's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for

comment.

Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Black, said in a statement that

the decision "vindicates Mr. Black completely."

The lawsuit stemmed from a March 2021 interview where

Black acknowledged having a consensual affair with Ganieva, and

said she extorted him based on threats to go public.

He was responding to Twitter posts where Ganieva accused him

of years of sexual harassment and abuse.

A trial judge had dismissed Ganieva's claims in May 2023.

Black, 73, is worth $17.1 billion, according to Forbes.

He is also defending against a lawsuit in Manhattan by an

autistic woman who said he raped her in disgraced late financier

Jeffrey Epstein's mansion in 2002, when she was 16.

Lawyers for Black have called the woman's claims

"categorically false" and a "malicious smear."

Black stepped down as Apollo's chief executive in 2021

after a review by an outside law firm found he had paid Epstein

$158 million for tax and estate planning.

The case is Ganieva v. Black, New York State Supreme Court,

Appellate Division, 1st Department, No. 2023-05694.