Ex-Playboy model reaches settlement that allows her to discuss Trump affair claims

Karen McDougal poses after being named Playmate of the Year in 1998. (Reuters.)

Ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal has been freed from a contract with American Media Inc. that she claimed barred her from discussing President Trump.

According to the New Yorker, AMI paid $150,000 to McDougal in November 2016 in exchange for the exclusive rights to her story claiming she had an affair with Trump. AMI, which runs publications like the National Enquirer, never ran a McDougal’s story, but per her contract McDougal was not allowed to take her story to another publication.

Trump has denied he had an affair with McDougal.

On Thursday the 1998 Playmate of the Year told The Wrap: “I am pleased to have reached a settlement with AMI on my own terms, which restores to me the rights to my life story and frees me from this contract that I was misled into signing nearly two years ago.

“My goal from the beginning was to restore my rights and not to achieve any financial gain, and this settlement does exactly that. I am relieved to be able to tell the truth about my story when asked, and I look forward to being able to return to my private life and focus on what matters to me. Thank you to my family, friends, legal team, and the public for the support I have received.”

Her lawyer, Peter Stris, stated the settlement “makes right the wrongs that had been perpetrated against her.”

McDougal claimed in a February New Yorker article that her agreement with AMI took her rights away.

“At this point I feel I can’t talk about anything without getting into trouble, because I don’t know what I’m allowed to talk about,” she said. “I’m afraid to even mention his name.”

A rep for AMI told The Wrap the company is pleased to have reached “an amicable resolution with Karen today that provides both sides what they wanted as a result.”

Per the agreement, AMI will publish five health and fitness columns written by the former Playboy model as well as a cover story about her in Men’s Journal.