Melania Trump has re-filed a libel lawsuit against the corporation that publishes the Daily Mail’s website, this time in New York, for reporting rumours that she worked as an escort.
Trump had previously filed the lawsuit against Mail Media Inc in Maryland, but a judge earlier this month ruled the case shouldn’t be filed in Maryland and dismissed it.
The lawsuit now filed in New York, where the corporation has offices, seeks compensatory and punitive damages of at least $150m.
Mrs. Trump, the filing states, “had the unique, one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as an extremely famous and well-known person, as well as a former professional model, brand spokesperson and successful businesswoman, to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multi-million dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which Plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world.”
Those product categories, it goes on to say, could have included apparel, accessories, jewellery, cosmetics, hair care and fragrance, among others.
The US first lady had sued Mail Media Inc along with blogger Webster Tarpley for reporting rumors that she worked as a high-end escort. Trump filed the lawsuit in Maryland after both Tarpley and the Daily Mail issued retractions. The lawsuit against Tarpley has been allowed to move ahead in Maryland.
(Published by The Guardian - February 7, 2017)