Ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal now free to discuss alleged Trump affair

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last updated 19 April 2018

American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, reached a settlement on Wednesday with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, letting McDougal out of a contract that prevented her from being able to speak about an affair she says she had with President Trump.

In 2016, American Media gave McDougal $150,000 in exchange for the exclusive rights to her story about Trump, but it never ran the article. In her lawsuit, McDougal accused American Media of misleading her into signing the contract and alleged that Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was secretly involved in talks between American Media and her attorney at the time, Keith Davidson. Cohen is part of a federal corruption investigation, and his home, office, and hotel room were raided last week by FBI agents who seized documents in connection with McDougal, The New York Times reports.

McDougal's attorney, Peter Stris, said under the terms of the settlement, McDougal can keep the $150,000 payment, while American Media has the right to up to $75,000 of any future profits from the story. Trump, who is friends with American Media Chairman David J. Pecker, has denied the affair ever happened. McDougal said she is "doing my victory dance," and does not yet have plans to sell her story to another outlet.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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