Daily Mail Agrees To Pay Damages To Melania Trump In Defamation Case

In the grand lobby of Trump International Hotel, Melania Trump listens to her husband, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump speak at the ribbon cutting for their latest property, Trump International Hotel - Ol... In the grand lobby of Trump International Hotel, Melania Trump listens to her husband, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump speak at the ribbon cutting for their latest property, Trump International Hotel - Old Post Office, in Washington, DC on October 26, 2016. The event was closed to the public, and included VIP guests and employees of Trump. (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto) *** Please Use Credit from Credit Field *** MORE LESS
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The Daily Mail agreed to pay damages to first lady Melania Trump Tuesday in her defamation suit following a story the publication ran that alleged Trump may have worked as an escort.

The Daily Mail’s parent companies — Associated Newspapers, Ltd. and Mail Media, Inc. –released a joint statement with the first lady, apologizing and retracting its story and agreeing to pay costs and damages, though it did not specify how much. The story had previously been retracted as well.

The statement did not appear to have any quotes or lines indicating they were coming from the first lady, despite being put forward as a joint statement.

“We accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them,” the statement read. “We apologize to Mrs Trump for any distress that our publication caused her.”

Trump filed the defamation suit after the Daily Mail published an explosive story indicating Trump had worked for an escort service, a claim which the first lady had denied. The suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, sought compensatory and punitive damages of at least $150 million. Trump indicated in the suit that the story had robbed her of a “unique once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to profit from being first lady.

Trump had previously settled with a Maryland blogger who put forward the same story for a “substantial sum,” according to Variety.

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