Melania Trump Wins Case Against ‘Daily Mail’ For Calling Her An Escort

In August, the Daily Mail published an article that would later cost them millions following a libel case served by the first lady of the United States. The publication released an article titled “Racy photos and troubling questions about his wife’s past that could derail Trump,” while boasting a daring photo of Melania Trump as its featured image.

Moreover, the article by the Daily Mail also implied that Melania Trump was more than just a model and even provided special services. The allegations against the first lady were impossible to ignore as they were both derogatory and damaging to Melania’s status as a “successful business woman.”

As a result, Melania Trump sued the Daily Mail in Britain and also arranged a lawsuit worth $150 million against the Daily Mail New York. Apparently, the first lady claims that the degenerating article cost her millions of dollars in potential business as, according to ABC.

A hearing in court 14 of the Royal Courts of Justice in London included an agreed statement to be read out to Mr. Justice Nicol on behalf of both parties involved. Although the exact amount to be received by Melania Trump was not disclosed, the legal costs are understood to be less that $3 million.

The statement cited the double-page spread article about Melania Trump’s past, claiming that it featured “false and defamatory claims about [Mrs. Trump] which questioned the nature of her work as a professional model and republished allegations that she provided services beyond simply modeling.”

The statement also clarified that the allegations against Melania Trump are both denied by her and by the Pablo Zampolli, who ran the modeling agency.

Furthermore, the Daily Mail article in question also claimed that Donald Trump and Melania Trump actually met three years before their “staged” first meeting. The article implied that the couple staged their first meeting as a “ruse.” Evidently, the allegations against Melania Trump were false, as reported by the Guardian.

The statement also claims that the allegations against Melania Trump attack her personal integrity and dignity, especially since Trump did not act the way the article implied she did.

“The suggestion that such allegations even merit investigation is deeply offensive and has caused a great deal of upset to the claimant.”

John Kelly, of the law firm Harbottle and Lewis, who represented Trump added that the article was evidently hard for anyone to miss. Kelly cited that the headline was printed in a large bold font, which covered one-third of page 15. To make matters worse, the article also featured an old photograph of Melania Trump standing naked with her front against a wall while her face looked to the camera.

“The photograph was prominently displayed and occupied almost the entire right-handed side of page 15. Readers of the newspaper could not fail to miss the article,” Kelly said.

Meanwhile, Catrin Evans, the lawyer representing the Daily Mail, told a hearing at London’s High Court that they now have the intention to “set the record straight and to apologize to the claimant for any distress and embarrassment that the articles may have caused her.”

The Daily Mail also admits that the allegations they published against Melania Trump last summer were completely false.

“We accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them … we have agreed to pay her damages and costs.”

The libel settlement Melania Trump won against the Daily Mail is one of the highest the British courts have ever seen. Although the fact that the figure does include its costs, it is harder to compare it with previous notable libel cases such as the £1.5m awarded to Lord Aldington in 1989 for false allegations made by Count Nikolai Tolstoy and the £1m Elton John reportedly received from the Sun in 1988.

[Featured Image By Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images]