London – US first lady Melania Trump accepted damages and an apology on Wednesday to settle lawsuits against British tabloid The Daily Mail, which had claimed she once “provided services beyond simply modelling.”
The newspaper issued a prominent apology on the home page of its website, saying it had made allegations against the wife of US President Donald Trump in August that “are not true, and we retract and withdraw them.”
Melania Trump, wife of then Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Center, on July 19, 2016. The US first lady accepted damages and an apology on Wednesday to settle lawsuits against British tabloid The Daily Mail, which had claimed she once “provided services beyond simply modelling.” (Credit Image: © Richard Ellis via ZUMA Wire) Photo: Richard Ellis via ZUMA Wire
“We apologize to Mrs Trump for any distress that our publication caused her,” it said.
“To settle Mrs Trump’s two lawsuits against us, we have agreed to pay her damages and costs.”
The newspaper admitted it had “questioned the nature of her work as a professional model, and republished allegations that she provided services beyond simply modelling.”
The retracted story also claimed that “Mr and Mrs Trump may have met three years before they actually met, and ‘staged’ their actual meeting as a ‘ruse’.”
“We accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them,” the newspaper said.
– dpa
