Melania Trump gets Daily Mail to pay and apologise over false claims she may have worked as an escort
The August 2016 article entitled ‘Racy photos and troubling questions about his wife’s past that could derail Trump’ contained untrue allegations
The Daily Mail and Mail Online will pay damages to settle a libel claim brought against it by the US first lady Melania Trump over false claims that she may have once worked as an escort.
An agreed statement was read out to in Britain’s Royal Courts of Justice on behalf of both parties.
US President Donald Trump’s spouse filed a suit against the British newspaper in the US for US$150 million alleging the article caused “tremendous harm” to her reputation and making it almost impossible to take advantage of “major business opportunities” available “for a multi-year term during which plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world.”
The newspaper will pay Trump damages, but the amount was not disclosed.
However, a person familiar with the situation said the settlement was worth less than US$3 million, including legal costs and damages.
The statement said the article published in a double page spread last summer included “false and defamatory claims about [Mrs Trump] which questioned the nature of her work as a professional model and republished allegations that she provides services beyond simply modelling”.