HarperCollins UK apologizes to Melania Trump over book's Epstein claim
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Book publisher HarperCollins UK apologized to First Lady Melania Trump on Tuesday and recalled a book that repeated unverified claims that child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was involved in introducing her to Donald Trump.
Why it matters: HarperCollins is the third media enterprise to apologize to Melania Trump and remove content related to the Epstein allegation.
- The first lady's attorneys "are actively ensuring immediate retractions and apologies by those who spread malicious, defamatory falsehoods," a spokesperson said.
- "The true account of how the first lady met President Trump is in her bestselling book, 'Melania,' " the spokesperson added.
- That book says she first met her future husband at a New York City party in 1998 and was introduced to him by another person, not Epstein.
The big picture: As the first lady's team is forcing retractions and apologies over published claims involving Epstein, her husband's administration is balking at releasing more of the FBI's files about the serial sexual predator, whose 2019 death in prison was ruled a suicide.
Zoom in: The HarperCollins book in question, "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York," is an unauthorized biography of Prince Andrew, an Epstein associate.
- It does not allege that Melania Trump was involved in any illegal or unethical conduct, but does claim that Epstein "facilitated" the meeting between her and Donald Trump, according to NBC News.
- After the book was published on Aug. 14, Melania Trump's legal team demanded the passages be removed and that HarperCollins UK apologize for publishing false content.
What they're saying: "We have, in consultation with the author, removed several passages of the book that referenced unverified claims about the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump," HarperCollins UK said in a statement Tuesday.
- "Copies of the book that included those references are being permanently removed from distribution. HarperCollins UK apologizes to the First Lady."
Zoom in: This summer, Melania Trump and her lawyers began aggressively fighting back against several published claims that Epstein had helped bring the Trumps together.
- On July 31, The Daily Beast retracted and apologized for its story a story headlined, "Melania Trump 'Very Involved' in Epstein Scandal: Author." The story's url was scrubbed from the internet.
- The author who advanced those claims, Michael Wolff, had told The Daily Beast in a podcast that the future first lady was "introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with. She's introduced to Trump that way," according to a New York Post article that Melania Trump posted on X.
- On Aug. 7, she posted another retraction and apology concerning the same topic when it was alleged on a podcast by former Democratic strategist James Carville.
- On Sept. 15, she posted yet another apology and retraction from The Daily Beast, this time over the podcast featuring Wolff. His remarks about the introduction were excised.
What's next: The first lady has yet to demand a formal apology from Wolff, but people in her orbit say it's likely to come.
"Michael Wolff should be looking over his shoulder," a source familiar with the issue told Axios.
- When Axios asked Wolff about that remark, he said via text: "Yeah, what else is new, the Trumps threaten to sue the media?"
