Ex-Playboy Model Scores 'Total Win' With Lawsuit Over Alleged Trump Fling

Karen McDougal settles with American Media Inc
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 18, 2018 6:00 PM CDT
Settlement Lets Ex-Playboy Model Dish on Alleged Trump Fling
President Donald Trump gestures during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club, Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in Palm Beach, Fla.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

A former Playboy model who says she slept with President Trump can now say it all she wants—in even greater detail. Karen McDougal settled her lawsuit Wednesday with the tabloid company American Media Inc. on terms that let her fully discuss the alleged affair, the New York Times reports. "It's a total win," says her lawyer Peter Stris. "We got everything we were fighting for—she got out of the contract, gets the life rights back and owes AMI nothing more." An elated McDougal says she's doing a "victory dance" but has no immediate plans. "I am relieved to be able to tell the truth about my story when asked," she says in a statement per CBS News.

McDougal sold her Trump-story rights to AMI for $150,000 in 2016, but later sued the company, saying chairman David Pecker misled her and Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen got inappropriately involved. AMI appeared ready to fight McDougal until the feds raided Cohen's office earlier this month and seized information on her lawsuit and AMI, per insiders in the case. Wednesday's settlement grants AMI up to $75,000 in future profits from McDougal's story and protects Trump from legal responsibility regarding attempts to buy women's stories during the presidential campaign. Trump still denies having had an affair with McDougal. (More President Trump stories.)

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