The phrase "act of blackmail" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a situation where someone is being coerced or threatened to do something against their will, typically for personal gain.
Example: "The police arrested him for his involvement in an act of blackmail against his former business partner."
Alternatives: "instance of extortion" or "case of coercion".
"All three compounded the vice of what they did by conspiring to extort what were in substance bribes from Liliya Shobukhova by acts of blackmail.
It found the four men had "acted dishonestly and corruptly and did unprecedented damage to the sport of track and field... [having] conspired to extort what were in substance bribes from the athlete by acts of blackmail".
In a statement, the IAAF said it was angered the officials sanctioned by the ethics panel "conspired to extort what were in substance bribes from the athlete by acts of blackmail".
The ploy was a bait and switch, an act of emotional blackmail.
But in an astonishing act of corporate blackmail, the banks themselves then insisted that they be subsidised by the state.
This barely legal act of footballing blackmail would strengthen Bayern, for sure, and come with the added bonus of weakening Dortmund significantly.
Although Don told her no quite clearly, several times, Bobbie insisted that he'd lose the account unless he had sex with her — an act of premeditated blackmail not all that different from the sort that Pete used on his neighbor's nanny.
IN the first two seasons of the AMC drama "Breaking Bad, Jesse Pinkmann has been party to acts of larceny, blackmail, murder and other felonies; lost his girlfriend as a result of her drug abuse; and fallen back so hard on his own addiction that he eventually ended up in rehab.
And while he admits making the payments between July 2006 and December 2007, he insists he was effectively the victim of blackmail, claiming he acted to prevent the banker revealing false details of his tax affairs.
