HarperCollins issued an apology on Tuesday after publishing “unverified claims” regarding First Lady Melania Trump in a book. Among these claims was the incorrect assertion that she met President Donald Trump through convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
This incident is just one part of a broader struggle where Melania Trump has sought to protect her and her husband’s reputation against false narratives.
In a formal announcement, HarperCollins UK explained that they would be removing contentious text from Andrew Rowney’s book, titled The Rise and Fall of the House of York. “We have consulted with the author and removed text from the book that referred to unverified claims about First Lady Melania Trump,” they stated.
The publisher also mentioned that copies of the book with these references would be taken out of circulation and expressed regret to the First Lady.
Melania Trump shared this statement, which had originally been posted on HarperCollins UK’s X account, with her nearly 4 million followers.
The book primarily discusses Prince Andrew and his connections with Epstein. It was noted that Lowney claimed Epstein facilitated the introduction between Donald Trump and Melania. However, representatives for Melania denied this, pointing out that in her own memoir, she states she met her husband at the Kit Kat Club in New York City in 1998, and it was not through Epstein.
Melania Trump’s team has been proactive in addressing the spread of false claims.
As reported by Breitbart News, The Daily Beast retracted an article in July that had relied on misleading comments from Michael Wolff, which mirrored the erroneous connection to Epstein.
That article’s removal came after Melania Trump’s lawyer reached out to left-leaning media outlets as part of her ongoing effort to uphold the truth in public discourse.
Furthermore, Democratic strategist James Carville, following backlash, publicly apologized and deleted a YouTube video implying that Melania Trump met President Trump through Epstein, again contradicting her memoir, which specified the Kit Kat Club encounter.
“After the episode, I received a letter from Melania Trump’s attorney,” Carville noted in a subsequent podcast, indicating some dissatisfaction with the video’s title and his remarks about the First Lady.
