The former Playboy model who sued for her right to speak freely about her alleged extramarital affair with President Trump has been released from her nondisclosure agreement with American Media Inc., according to a report Wednesday.
Karen McDougal reached a settlement deal with American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer, to be let go from a 2016 arrangement in which she was paid $150,000 for the exclusive rights to her story, per the New York Times.
But an article detailing her supposed year-long affair with Trump from 2006 to 2007 was never published by the magazine.
McDougal’s case against American Media was the first public example of the tabloid news company “catching” and “killing” a story that could have been damaging to Trump in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.
The other instance was Trump World Tower doorman Dino Sajudin, who was given $30,000 by American Media Inc. in 2015 in exchange for signing over his rights, “in perpetuity,” regarding a rumor he heard that Trump had fathered an illegitimate child with an employee in the 1980s.
McDougal is the second woman to take legal action against Trump over a nondisclosure agreement to stay silent about an alleged sexual encounter with the president.
The first was adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who filed a similar lawsuit in March.
According to Wednesday’s settlement, American Media can get up to $75,000 of any future profits McDougal earns by talking about her relationship with Trump, while her lawyer says she can keep the original $150,000 payment.
Trump and the White House have vehemently denied the relationship.
