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The Big Lies › 2016 › File PF-0024
Retracted

Daily Mail retracts and pays damages over Melania Trump 'escort' claims

A Daily Mail article on Melania Trump's 1990s modeling career repeated allegations that she had provided services beyond modeling, and suggested the Trumps' account of how they met was staged.

Screenshot of the original report as published
Screenshot of the report as published: pressreader.com. Tap to open the source.
Who it helped: Democrats

The allegations smeared the Republican nominee's wife during the campaign.

What was reported

A Daily Mail article on Melania Trump's 1990s modeling career repeated allegations that she had provided services beyond modeling, and suggested the Trumps' account of how they met was staged.

What actually happened

Melania Trump sued the paper and a Maryland blogger for defamation. The Daily Mail published a retraction on Sept. 1, 2016. In April 2017 its publisher settled both suits, reportedly for about $2.9 million in damages and costs, and printed an apology accepting that the allegations were not true.

The proof

The Daily Mail's printed retraction (Sept. 2016) and its April 12, 2017 settlement statement accepting that the allegations were false and withdrawing them.

The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:

Daily Mail retracts and pays damages over Melania Trump 'escort' claims — Retracted. The Daily Mail's printed retraction (Sept. 2016) and its April 12, 2017 settlement statement accepting that the allegations were false and withdrawing them. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/daily-mail-melania-escort-claims/

Original reporting

Corrections, findings & records

Archived copies

Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.

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