Melania Trump Removes Language About Her ‘Brand’ From Defamation Suit

President Donald Trump points to his wife, first lady Melania Trump during a campaign rally Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, at Orlando-Melbourne International Airport, in Melbourne, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
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First lady Melania Trump has altered a defamation lawsuit to erase its previous mention of a “once-in-the-lifetime opportunity” to profit as a result of her being, “for a multi-year term … one of the most photographed women in the world.”

Trump’s defamation suit against MailOnline, which published a story alleging she was once a prostitute (the story has been taken down), previously made reference to Trump’s “recent product deals for jewelry, accessories and skin care products, under her brand ‘Melania,’ and through her own companies.”

That language has been removed from the new complaint, which the New York Post reported was filed in court late Tuesday. Trump’s lawyers also removed language that alluded to her “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to pursue a “broad-based commercial brand” which could include “apparel, accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skin care, and fragrance.”

Trump, the previous filing read, “had the unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as an extremely famous and well-known person, as well as a former professional model and brand spokesperson and successful businesswoman, to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multimillion dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world. These product categories would have included, among other things, apparel, accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skin care, and fragrance.”

Later, the filing claims that the article in question has impugned Trump’s “fitness to perform her personal and professional duties.” The previous filing, however, claimed that the article had impugned Trump’s fitness to perform her duties “as First Lady of the United States,” and “in business.”

After the previous filing was widely criticized for seeming to suggest that the first lady sought to profit from her prominent and photogenic position, Trump’s lawyer Charles Harder put out a defiant statement.

“The first lady has no intention of using her position for profit and will not do so. It is not a possibility. Any statements to the contrary are being misinterpreted,” he said at the time.

Harder did not respond to TPM’s questions about the revised filing.

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