Karen McDougal. Photo courtesy of the New York Times.
Summary: An ex-Playmate and the publisher of the National Enquirer have reached a settlement.
In November 2016, American Media Inc. paid ex-Playmate Karen McDougal $150,000 for her exclusive story about how she had an affair with President Donald Trump years before. McDougal hoped that her salacious tale would garner publicity, but she was shocked when the story never ran.
This year, McDougal sued AMI, claiming that they had intentionally bought the story to kill it, and this week, she and the defendant reached an amicable settlement that will allow her to say whatever she wants about Trump and to also get multiple other write-ups in their other publications.
When McDougal made her original deal with AMI, she signed an agreement barring her from discussing the story with anyone else. Since the story never ran, she felt that she had been duped into silence.
McDougal filed her lawsuit after another model, Stormy Daniels, sued Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, to get out of her non-disclosure agreement; and The Wrap reported that this week McDougal and AMI reached a settlement.
“I am pleased to have reached a settlement with AMI on my own terms, which restores to me the rights to my life story and frees me from this contract that I was misled into signing nearly two years ago,” McDougal said. “My goal from the beginning was to restore my rights and not to achieve any financial gain, and this settlement does exactly that. I am relieved to be able to tell the truth about my story when asked, and I look forward to being able to return to my private life and focus on what matters to me. Thank you to my family, friends, legal team, and the public for the support I have received.”
Trump has denied having an affair with McDougal and Daniels. The two women’s claims prompted an FBI raid of Michael Cohen’s office, hotel, and home. The law enforcement agency was looking for documents related to payments to these women, and these payments could possibly be violations of campaign finance laws.
A representative for AMI told The Wrap they were pleased to reach “an amicable resolution with Karen today that provides both sides what they wanted as a result.”
McDougal is represented by attorney Peter Stris.
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