In the last post I wrote about Melania Trump last week, I noted (amongst other stories) that Melania and her team of lawyers were making a lot of noise about suing the Daily Mail and at least one blogger over some salacious tabloid reporting about her past. The Daily Mail claimed that when Melania first came to America, she maybe, possibly, might have worked for an escort agency, or a modeling agency that had some sort of shadiness with also booking models as escorts. The Daily Mail has since issued apologies, clarifications and as of this week, a carefully worded retraction. Melania is still suing though.
Melania Trump, wife of the Republican nominee for U.S. president, filed a defamation lawsuit on Thursday against Mail Media, parent company of the U.K. publication The Daily Mail, as well as a blogger named Webster Griffin Tarpley. In a complaint lodged in Maryland Circuit Court, Trump is taking issue with an Aug. 19 article titled, “Naked photoshoots, and troubling questions about visas that won’t go away: The VERY racy past of Donald Trump’s Slovenian wife.”
She is represented by Charles Harder, the same attorney who handled Hulk Hogan’s privacy suit in a victory for the former professional wrestler that bankrupted Gawker Media with a $140 million verdict.
The story in The Daily Mail covered Trump’s journey to New York in the mid-1990s and raised questions about her past based on “highly-charged, lesbian-themed, nude photographs,” the exact timing of when she traveled to the U.S. on a visa, and her stint working for a modeling agency. The article relied on the work of a Slovenian journalist who had co-authored an unauthorized biography of Trump as well as a report early last month in a Slovenian magazine to make the claim that her modeling agency was run by a New York entrepreneur, who allegedly also operated an escort agency for wealthy clients. The article stated, “What Melania’s [composite card] looked like only the people involved know, but it is no coincidence she got a rich husband.”
According to Trump’s lawsuit, “The statements of fact in the Daily Mail Article are false. Plaintiff did legitimate and legal modeling work for legitimate business entities and did not work for any ‘gentleman’s club’ or ‘escort’ agencies. Plaintiff was not a sex worker, escort or prostitute in any way, shape or form, nor did she ever have a composite or presentation card for the sex business. Plaintiff did not come to the United States until 1996. Thus, Plaintiff did not, and could not have participated in a photo shoot in the United States or met her current husband in the United States prior to that time.”
The lawsuit follows legal threats sent out by Trump’s lawyer to a number of publications including Politico. Trump asserts thatThe Daily Mail consciously doubted the truth of the claims in the article, but decided to publish it anyway, and that reporters there can’t simply rely on “unsubstantiated” claims and “an unauthorized book written by malicious and bitter ‘reporters’ who have never met or spoken to Ms. Trump.”
“The conduct of Daily Mail was despicable, abhorrent, intentional, malicious and oppressive, and thus justifies an award of punitive damages,” states the complaint.
Besides defamation, Trump also is suing for tortious interference, contending that the published statements have gotten in the way of her “numerous” licensing and endorsement deals.
[From The Hollywood Reporter]
The part that made my blood run cold was: “She is represented by Charles Harder, the same attorney who handled Hulk Hogan’s privacy suit.” She’s represented by Hulk Hogan’s lawyer? Did she get his name from Peter Thiel? Is the aim to shut down the Daily Mail like Thiel shut down Gawker?
Meanwhile, the escort-defamation nonsense is taking away from what should be the real controversy: we were promised a more in-depth explanation about Melania’s immigration history and visa status in the 1990s. We were told that Melania would speak about this in-depth. She still hasn’t. I hope to God some legit reporters are on the case. Also: Melania is still in the wind! She hasn’t made any public appearances in weeks.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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