Last week, the Daily Beast issued a public apology to First Lady Melania Trump after publishing an article linking her to Jeffrey Epstein, a modeling agent associated with notorious sex offenders, suggesting he played a role in her meeting with President Trump.
The piece, titled “Melania Trump ‘Very Involved’ Epstein Scandal: Author,” was retracted in July when Melania’s attorney reached out to the publication. However, the editor’s notes at that time failed to apologize directly to the First Lady or address the dubious claims made by author Michael Wolff.
According to an update from the editors, “After much consideration, I determined that the article was removed from the platform because it did not meet our standards,” they noted. “In response to a letter from the First Lady’s lawyer, the Daily Beast has retracted certain segments from the Daily Beast podcast titled ‘Trump’s Epstein Scandal Will Not Stop.'” They specifically mentioned the First Lady.
“We apologize to the First Lady and our readers.”
Melania shared the apology from the outlet on X, labeling it as a “Retraction and apologies from the Daily Beast.”
Wolff has previously been criticized for his reporting, described recently as “a third-rate reporter… even a fake news scoundrel laughed,” in an interview regarding Melania’s alleged connections to Epstein. He suggested that she is “very involved” in Trump’s “relationship” with the controversial figure, asserting, “She’s been featured by a model agent involving Trump and Epstein. Epstein knows her well.”
His earlier work, “Fire & Fury,” has also faced heavy skepticism from various journalists. Melania’s legal team is actively challenging media outlets and individuals that promote Wolff’s questionable claims linking her to Epstein.
Moreover, Democrat strategist James Kerrville had to apologize publicly and retract an episode of his podcast after Melania’s team objected to suggestions of an “Epstein connection” involving her.
The Daily Beast replaced the original article with a note in July, and on September 10th, it was updated to include the formal apology.
Additionally, Melania’s lawyers have threatened to sue Hunter Biden for “over $1 billion” due to what they called “false, honor, disgrace and inflammatory statements” made in reference to Wolff’s remarks during an interview on the YouTube show “Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan.”
In her upcoming memoir, Melania recounts meeting Trump at a fashion event in September 1998. During that encounter, she remembered feeling drawn to his “magnetic energy.” They got engaged six years later and married in 2005.
