What Do Melania Trump, Prostitution And Gawker Have In Common?

Melania Trump, the wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has threatened defamation lawsuits against several news organizations for publishing stories claiming that she is a former escort, according to multiple reports.

The Daily Mail, a British tabloid, published a story over the weekend, citing a Slovenian magazine, that said a New York modeling agency Melania Trump used to work for also provided escort services to its high-end clients.

The Mail never explicitly reported that Melania Trump was a hooker — just that the agency she worked for was involved in prostitution. That story was picked up by several news outlets.

Melania Trump's attorney, Charles Harder, sent notices to several news outlets warning of legal action if the stories are not removed. According to CNN, letters were sent to the Daily Mail, The Week, Inquisitr, Tarpley, Before It's News, Liberal America, LawNewz, Winning Democrats and Bipartisan Report.

Inquisitr and BipartisanReport have both retracted their stories. The Daily Mail story remains online.

Harder represented the wrestler Hulk Hogan in his privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media, which led to the bankruptcy and sale of the company.

The Daily Mail did not immediately return a Patch request for comment.

Melania Trump's lawyer released the following statement to news outlets about the escort allegations:

Mrs Trump has placed several news organizations on notice of her legal claims against them, including Daily Mail among others, for making false and defamatory statements about her supposedly having been an ‘escort’ in the 1990s. All such statements are 100% false, highly damaging to her reputation, and personally hurtful. She understands that news media have certain leeway in a presidential campaign, but outright lying about her in this way exceeds all bounds of appropriate news reporting and human decency.

Image via Mark Nozell, Flickr, used under Creative Commons