Former Playboy Playmate Settles Nat'l Enquirer Lawsuit

Karen McDougal

A former Playboy playmate who sold her story of an extramarital affair with President Donald Trump to the publisher of the National Enquirer settled a lawsuit against the company that releases her from a contract she said was meant to muzzle her during Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Karen McDougal reached an agreement with American Media Inc. that “restores to me the rights to my life story and frees me from this contract,” she said in a statement provided by her lawyer, Peter Stris.

American Media, run by a friend of both Mr. Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, agreed in August 2016 to pay Ms. McDougal $150,000 for her exclusive story of the alleged 2006 affair, which it then didn’t publish, a tactic known in the tabloid world as “catch and kill.”

Ms. McDougal doesn’t have to return the payment she received from American Media. A spokesman for the company said settlement provided “both sides what they wanted.”

The AMI contract with Ms. McDougal has become a focus of the federal criminal investigation of Mr. Cohen, whose home, hotel and office were raided by federal agents last week. The search warrant sought information about American Media’s payment to Ms. McDougal, as well as a $130,000 payment Mr. Cohen made to silence former adult-movie star Stephanie Clifford, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

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