Britain's Daily Mail newspaper has agreed to pay damages and costs to the first lady of the United States, Melania Trump, over an article about her modelling career.
Melania Trump Photo: AFP
The story was published during the US election campaign last year.
The article was published by the Daily Mail newspaper, and subsequently the paper's website.
The newspaper, which runs what it calls the world's largest English-language newspaper website, apologised for the article on Wednesday and issued a retraction on its home page.
"We accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true," the newspaper said.
Accepting the apology at the High Court in London, Mrs Trump's lawyer said the article "included false and defamatory claims about the claimant which questioned the nature of her work as a professional model."
"The suggestion that such allegations even merit investigation is deeply offensive and has caused a great deal of upset and distress to the claimant."
The US suit, filed last year, sought damages of $US150 million. The amount accepted by Mrs Trump in London was not disclosed in court. However, reports suggest the payout was closer to $3m, including legal costs and damages.
In a statement, Mrs Trump's lawyer said that she is "very pleased" and "will remain vigilant to protect her good name and reputation from those who make false and defamatory statements about her".
The payout settles the case both in New York and the UK, despite London's High Court having no jurisdiction in the US.
Mrs Trump's lawsuit initially said that Mrs Trump had the "unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multi-million dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which [she] is one of the most photographed women in the world".
Critics used the phrasing to question whether Mrs Trump had plans to make financial gains from her position as first lady.
A second version of the suit, re-filed weeks later, dropped the controversial wording.
- BBC / Reuters
