Karen McDougal Describes Alleged Affair With Trump in New Yorker Article
- 6 years ago
Karen McDougal Describes Alleged Affair With Trump in New Yorker Article
But I didn’t understand the full parameters of it.”
The publisher’s $150,000 payment to Ms. McDougal was reported by The Wall Street Journal just days before the 2016 election,
but the Friday report sheds new light on the deal-making process, which Ms. McDougal and those close to her described as exploitative.
Ms. McDougal, a former Playboy model, wrote an eight-page note, obtained by The New Yorker, describing the relationship, which
allegedly began in 2006, while Mr. Trump was married to his current wife, Melania Trump, and lasted about nine months.
Ms. McDougal, a Republican, told The New Yorker that she was at first reluctant to share her story with the tabloid, but
that she decided to proceed in 2016 after a former friend began posting about the alleged affair on social media
A Friday report published by The New Yorker describes how a tabloid publisher may have moved to “catch
and kill” the story and pay off the woman, Karen McDougal, as Mr. Trump’s candidacy gained momentum.
Former American Media employees told The New Yorker
that the company’s chairman and chief executive, David Pecker, who is close with Mr. Trump, routinely bought stories with no intention of running them, sometimes using the pieces as leverage.
Ms. McDougal said she regretted signing a contract with American Media Inc., the publisher of The National Enquirer, for the rights to her story.
But I didn’t understand the full parameters of it.”
The publisher’s $150,000 payment to Ms. McDougal was reported by The Wall Street Journal just days before the 2016 election,
but the Friday report sheds new light on the deal-making process, which Ms. McDougal and those close to her described as exploitative.
Ms. McDougal, a former Playboy model, wrote an eight-page note, obtained by The New Yorker, describing the relationship, which
allegedly began in 2006, while Mr. Trump was married to his current wife, Melania Trump, and lasted about nine months.
Ms. McDougal, a Republican, told The New Yorker that she was at first reluctant to share her story with the tabloid, but
that she decided to proceed in 2016 after a former friend began posting about the alleged affair on social media
A Friday report published by The New Yorker describes how a tabloid publisher may have moved to “catch
and kill” the story and pay off the woman, Karen McDougal, as Mr. Trump’s candidacy gained momentum.
Former American Media employees told The New Yorker
that the company’s chairman and chief executive, David Pecker, who is close with Mr. Trump, routinely bought stories with no intention of running them, sometimes using the pieces as leverage.
Ms. McDougal said she regretted signing a contract with American Media Inc., the publisher of The National Enquirer, for the rights to her story.