Melania Trump has won damages following a court battle against the Daily Mail, a United Kingdom publication and their United States counterpart, the Mail Online. It is reported that the damages offered to Mrs. Trump sits close to $3 million, despite her initial lawsuit seeking around $150 million.
The article in question was published on 20 August 2016, during the election campaign, and was controversially titled ‘The VERY racy past of Donald Trump’s Slovenian wife.’ The article was later retracted by the online outlet after coming under fire for reporting allegations Melania had once worked as an escort.
The Daily Mail cited a book available on Amazon in its allegations, as it described the modeling agency where Mrs. Trump was formerly employed as being ‘something like a gentleman’s club.’ In addition to this they stated that another source for their claims had been Suzy, a Slovenian magazine, that alleged Mrs. Trump’s modeling agency in New York, run by Paolo Zampolli, ‘operated as an escort agency for wealthy clients.’
When the initial allegations arose, supermodel Emily Ratajkowski quickly took to twitter to condemn journalists for slut-shaming Melania:
Sat next to a journalist from the NYT last night who told me "Melania is a hooker." Whatever your politics it's crucial to call this out for
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) February 13, 2017
what it is: slut shaming. I don't care about her nudes or sexual history and no one should.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) February 13, 2017
It’s safe to say Ratajkowski’s sentiments are shared by many and our feminism must not be limited by our politics, as there is no doubt all women are subject to misogyny, especially within the media.
On Wednesday morning, the Mail Online posted a full apology to Melania, stating they ‘accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them.‘ The apology also confirms that they ‘have agreed to pay [Melania] damages and costs.‘
A lawyer for Melania said the original double-page spread published in the Daily Mail newspaper featured a old nude photo from Mrs Trump’s modelling career, and that the claims made by the newspaper “strike at the heart of the claimant’s personal integrity and dignity“.
The official amount accepted by Mrs Trump was not officially announced in court, but she has fully accepted the damages and apology from the London-based newspaper.
