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Karen McDougal’s journey from Playboy to Trump Tower? Her alleged affair with Donald Trump was bought and buried with a ‘catch and kill’ scheme – now she advocates for removing breast implants
STORYLynn Farah
- While Stormy Daniels got most of the headlines, former Playmate Karen McDougal was also embroiled in a hush money scandal involving Trump, who she says she was once in love with
- The 53-year-old has become an advocate for removing breast implants and raises awareness about blood clots – she also creates personalised messages for customers for a fee on Cameo
In May this year, Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to illegally influence his 2016 US presidential campaign. The so-called hush money case centred around preventing damaging stories about him emerging in the press and the payments that were made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump and was later paid “hush money” not to divulge the details.
In court on April 26, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass described a story about Trump’s alleged 2006-07 affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal as “National Enquirer gold”, referring to the well-known US tabloid. Per The New Yorker, in August 2016, AMI paid McDougal US$150,000 to buy the rights to her story. As a result, her relationship with Trump became a “commodity” in the political world.
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Now 53, McDougal has created a life for herself outside the Trump hush money scandal, where she focuses on health issues around breast implants. Here’s what you need to know about the other woman who found herself embroiled in the trial of the century.
Karen McDougal’s Playboy era
According to her website, McDougal began working as a fitness model in her 20s and was part of several health and fitness campaigns. In 1997, she was selected as a Playboy Playmate and according to The New York Times, was chosen as Playmate of the Year a year later.
Per People magazine, she was also voted runner-up in the “Sexiest Playmate of the 1990s” in 2001. In 1999, she was the first woman to be on the cover of Men’s Fitness magazine and was regularly used as a fitness model in magazine shoots and advertising campaigns.
Karen McDougal’s relationship with Donald Trump
In 2018, McDougal broke her silence on the 10-month long relationship she claims she had with Trump in 2006. According to The New York Times, she said she met Trump at a pool party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. McDougal also told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she visited the former US president at Trump Tower “dozens of times”.