I'm No Drug Lord's Hooker! Telenovela Star Ninel Conde Sues Over Book on Cartel Links

Miami-based singer and Rebelde star Ninel Conde has not taken kindly to a prominent investigative journalist's book that Conde claims falsely frames her as a "mistress, prostitute, and a money launderer" for a Mexican drug lord.

Conde sued author Anabel Hernández and publisher Penguin Random House for printing allegedly defamatory statements portraying Conde as a paid escort and launderer for the late kingpin Arturo Beltrán Leyva in the book Emma y Las Otras Señoras del Narco (Emma and Other Narco Women). Published in December 2021, the book includes claims that Beltrán Leyva showered Conde with lavish gifts, including a Lamborghini, and that he once won her as a "prize" in a raffle where $300,000 was collected from various cartel-leader contestants.

The complaint lists 29 allegedly libelous accounts of Conde’s life in the book that Conde claims has caused "a massive loss of earnings, the exact amount of which may very well be beyond measure." (The lawsuit does not provide specific figures on Conde's alleged lost earnings.) The paperback, currently priced at $13.69 on Amazon, became one of Mexico's best-selling books upon publication.

Penguin House has not responded to New Times' request for comment.

The Global Investigative Journalism Network considers Hernández "one of the most prominent investigative journalists in Mexico." She has won multiple awards during her 30-year career covering Mexico's politics, military, and drug trade.

Hernández previously said that Emma y Las Otras Señoras del Narco was an attempt to show how women in relationships with drug kingpins are more than just "mafia dolls" in the machismo-driven world of the cartels. Her work on the book was sparked by interviews with Emma Coronel, wife of Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

"This is not a simplistic book of gossip. It is really a social critique on how all these circles of criminal groups that are destroying Mexico actually function," Hernández told El País.

The finer points of the work apparently did not resonate with Conde, who argues the book subjects her to "hatred, distrust, ridicule, contempt, and/or disgrace." Her lawsuit lists three counts of defamation and one count of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

A native of Toluca, Mexico, Conde says the book falsely paints her as a prostitute who accepted various forms of payment to spend time with, entertain, and dance for her cartel "masters," at events dating back more than fifteen years. She claims the work was published despite the author's knowledge that Conde "vehemently denied the egregiously false, disparaging, and defamatory statements."

"Narco Women purports to detail how famous women, like Plaintiff Conde, allegedly 'conform to the sexist rules of their masters and dance before them – in private, at parties, or orgies,'" the complaint states, referencing a quote from the publisher's book synopsis. "They do it on the conscience of thousands of victims of those same masters who they entertain in exchange for money, jewelry, and properties."

Other stars featured in the book include actress Issabela Camil, known for roles in Jane the Virgin and Mexican telenovelas, and Galilea Montijo, host of Hoy (a Mexican morning show) and winner of Big Brother VIP's first season. The book relies heavily on legal complaints, investigative documents, and witness accounts.

Chapter eight, named after Conde's song, "El Bombon Asesino" ("The Killer Bombshell"), explores the star's alleged interactions with Arturo Beltrán Leyva, kingpin of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel and cousin of El Chapo, and her purported connection to Harold Mauricio "El Conejo" Poveda, an alleged cocaine supplier to the Federation cartel and Beltrán Leyva's family. Some cartel members supposedly nicknamed Conde "the duck" in reference to the shape of her derriere.

According to the court documents, the book asserts that Conde agreed to a two-hour date with Beltrán Leyva in exchange for $100,000. "The appointment took place without any setback, but it lasted more than five hours, since the lady locked herself with Mr. Leyva in one of the bedrooms,” an anonymous witness states in the book, according to the lawsuit's translation. A witness cited in the book claimed Beltrán Leyva once dropped off a Lamborghini at the home of Conde’s then-husband Juan Zepeda, who was instructed by a messenger to "leave the car or there would be problems."

The book includes anonymous testimony asserting that Conde received "cash resources" from another cartel-linked figure to purchase a Lincoln pickup truck, a Porsche Cayenne, and luxury property in Lomas de Valle Escondido – an exclusive residential area south of Mexico City.

Beltrán Leyva was killed in December 2009 during a Mexican special forces operation targeting him and his cartel members.

"[The book] impugns Plaintiff Conde's reputation by falsely stating as fact that she engaged in criminal and morally repugnant actions, including having sex with drug cartel members in exchange for luxury gifts and money," the lawsuit, filed January 25, states.

Hernández is known for her deeply researched drug-trade exposés, including the best-selling Los Señores del Narco, a 588-page history of Mexican drug cartels. After the publication of that book and her investigation into a group of Mexican cops' alleged illegal activities, Hernández said she received death threats and needed a 24-hour security detail with bodyguards.

The synopsis for Emma y Las Otras Señoras del Narco states that the work is part of "Hernández's long journalistic journey within the complex world of organized crime in Mexico." It "continues her relentless search to understand the drug cartels’ components…one in which dozens of people are exploited, disappeared, or killed every day, many of them female."

The lawsuit is challenging serious allegations of money laundering-related activity laid out in the book, which refers to an anonymously sourced narrative claiming Conde received "$3.5 million dollars in cash in various deliveries in the parking lot of a Santa Fe shopping center" in Mexico. Allegedly, the money was used to buy a penthouse in Acapulco and an apartment in Nayarit, properties linked to a promissory note between Beltrán Leyva and Conde that became the subject of a Mexican government investigation, according to the book transcript in the court documents.

Conde has appeared in more than a dozen telenovelas, including recent roles in El Señor de los Cielos and En Tierras Salvajes. She was featured in the 2023 season of Secretos de las Indomables, a reality show that followed around well-known TV actresses.

She is represented by Miami attorneys Anthony Hevia and Courtney Salas, along with Albert Gonzalez from Tennessee. She had been threatening to take legal action against Hernández since December 2021, shortly before her book was released.