(Bloomberg) -- Leon Black won the latest round of a bitter legal fight with former Russian model Guzel Ganieva, after an appellate court said she must remove from her lawsuit “inflammatory factual allegations” linking the Apollo Global Management co-founder to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Ganieva, who claims Black raped her, sued him two years ago, accusing him of defamation for calling their relationship a “consensual affair” and claiming she had extorted money from him. In an amended complaint, Ganieva made multiple references to Black’s friendship with Epstein, who was charged with sex trafficking in 2019 and died in custody.

Last year, the judge overseeing the case denied Black’s motion to get references to his relationship with Epstein struck from Ganieva’s complaint. On Thursday, the New York state appeals court in Manhattan overturned that decision.

In November, another woman filed suit against Black, alleging that he raped her in Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse. Black’s lawyer denied the claim, brought by Cheri Pierson of Virginia, and has moved the court to dismiss the case.

Leon Black Accused in New Suit of 2002 Rape in Epstein Mansion

Ganieva’s legal battle with Black began after she wrote on Twitter in March 2021 that she was “sexually harassed and abused by him for years.” He said their affair was consensual and she signed an agreement in 2015 clearing him of all her allegations. Ganieva was promised $21 million under that accord and received $9.5 million, according to Black.

The case is Ganieva v. Black, 155262/2021, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.