WASHINGTON: America’s first lady Melania Trump has relaunched a lawsuit in New York seeking multi-million dollar damages against the publishers of the Daily Mail Online, for reporting rumors that she worked as an escort in the 1990s.
In a separate but related case, President Donald Trump’s wife, a former Slovenian model, settled a suit Tuesday against a blogger who made the same escort claims.
Both suits were originally filed in Maryland in September, but the complaint against the Daily Mail was rejected on grounds that the court lacked geographical jurisdiction over the matter, which would need to be heard in New York.
On Monday Trump’s lawyers moved to ensure it is, filing a suit in a New York court against Mail Media, Inc., which publishes the Daily Mail Online, asking for damages to the tune of $150 million.
The Daily Mail Online already issued a retraction of its August 20 article and stated that it “did not intend to state or suggest that these allegations are true, nor did it intend to state or suggest that Mrs. Trump ever worked as an ‘escort’ or in the ‘sex business.’“
On Tuesday, lawyers announced Trump had settled her case in Maryland against blogger Webster G. Tarpley.
Tarpley agreed to pay the first lady a “substantial sum” for having claimed she worked as a high-end escort girl, according to Trump lawyer Charles Harder, who did not specify the sum involved.
The blogger also acknowledged his wrongdoing in a statement, sent to AFP by Harder.
“I posted an article on August 2, 2016 about Melania Trump that was replete with false and defamatory statements about her,” Tarpley said.
“I acknowledge that these false statements were very harmful and hurtful to Mrs.Trump and her family, and therefore I sincerely apologize to Mrs.Trump, her son, her husband and her parents for making these false statements,” he said.
The poised, impeccably dressed Melania is 24 years younger than her 70-year-old billionaire husband. She is Trump’s third wife and the mother of their young son Barron.
Her modeling career brought her in 1996 to the United States, where two years later she met the real estate mogul and reality television star she would eventually marry.
Harder specializes in cases that involve privacy protection and defamation and recently represented former wrestler Hulk Hogan in his successful lawsuit against Gawker Media.
Melania Trump revives suit against escort allegations
Melania Trump revives suit against escort allegations
Mick Jagger’s fiancee ‘physically attacked’ at exclusive London club
- Melanie Hamrick, 38, dined with a friend before heading to private members’ club Annabel’s in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, where the incident happened
- The author, choreographer and former ballerina has been in a relationship with the 82-year-old Rolling Stones singer since 2014 and they have a 9-year-old son together
LONDON: Melanie Hamrick, Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger’s fiancee, said she was attacked at an elite and exclusive private member’s club in Mayfair, central London.
The 38-year-old said the incident on Tuesday at Annabel’s in Berkeley Square had left her heartbroken and shaken.
In a message posted later that night on Instagram, she wrote: “This is incredibly hard to share, but I was physically attacked at Annabel’s Mayfair tonight.
“I’m so thankful to my friends for protecting me. Two people grabbed me from behind and thank God for the good people who stepped in to help me.
“I’m shaken, sad and heartbroken that people can treat each other this way.”
The message was deleted a few hours after it appeared.
Hamrick has been in a relationship with 82-year-old Jagger since 2014, and she confirmed in April last year that they became engaged about two or three years earlier. They have a son, Deveraux, who was born in 2016.
Hamrick is a choreographer, author and former ballerina who performed with the American Ballet Theatre for 15 years before retiring in 2019.
Before the incident on Tuesday, she had dined with a socialite friend, Emma Thynn, before heading to Annabel’s. Sources at the venue said staff were not notified of an attack. The Metropolitan Police said it had not receive any report of an incident, the Daily Mail newspaper reported.
The incident is believed to have taken place outside of the club. In the past few weeks there has been a series of daytime heists targeting luxury goods stores across London. It is not known if the incident involving Hamrick was related to these.
However, the area around the prestigious Berkeley Square has become one of the worst in London, and even in Europe, for robberies and street crime, the Daily Mail said. Official figures show that people in the area were 30 times more likely to fall victim to crime compared with those in other parts of the city, the newspaper added.
Numbers of thefts and robberies, mainly of mobile phones, have tripled in London over the past four years, with tens of thousands of reported cases, particularly in the upmarket Mayfair and St James’s areas.
Organized criminal gangs have reportedly been targeting high-value luxury brands such as Rolex and Yves Saint Laurent across London. Some visitors have even hired private security while visiting the city.
Last month, the Daily Mail reported that Tom Cruise, 63, had abruptly moved out of his £35 million ($47 million) luxury apartment in One Hyde Park, a high-rise in West London, over safety fears.
