Last week, The Daily Mail published an article questioning Melania Trump's past relationships and her modeling career. The article cited a Slovenian publication, Suzy Magazine, which reportedly published a story alleging that Trump's modeling agency in New York also functioned as an escort agency for wealthy clients. Now, Melania is taking legal action against The Daily Mail and other media outlets which published similar allegations on the basis of defamation.
Charles Harder, an attorney for Trump who also represented Hulk Hogan in his successful privacy lawsuit against Gawker, told Politico in an email that that Trump's legal claims pertain not only to The Daily Mail, but also to other news organizations that have allegedly made "false and defamatory statements about her supposedly having been an 'escort' in the 1990s."
"All such statements are 100% false, highly damaging to her reputation, and personally hurtful," Harder said in the email. "She understands that news media have certain leeway in a presidential campaign, but outright lying about her in this way exceeds all bounds of appropriate news reporting and human decency."
Inquistr and Bipartisan Report have published apologies and retractions after sharing the allegations about Trump's career on their own sites. And although Harder told Politico that Trump's legal action was not restricted to the United Kingdom, Politico reported that other UK-based publications were warned against publishing the allegations about her life and career. One British newspaper reportedly shared with Politico a note to its employees, in which it warned them against publishing similar allegations.
Harder also confirmed to The Guardian that Trump was considering filing lawsuits against Politico and The Week, though no such suit has yet been filed. The Guardian reported that Politico had received a letter from Harder, saying that the site was "on notice" for legal action after a Politico article earlier this month which questioned Trump's compliance with American immigration law when she first arrived in the United States to work as a model.
Both The Daily Mail and the Politico articles raise these issues in the context of a "racy" photo shoot which Melania Trump reportedly did in 1995. Shortly after the Politico article was published, Trump responded to Politico's allegations in a statement, saying, "I have at all times been in full compliance with the immigration laws of this country," after which Politico further questioned inconsistencies in her account.
Bustle has reached out to The Daily Mail for comment, but has not yet received a response.
