Daily Beast apologizes to Melania Trump over retracted Epstein link article

WASHINGTON, DC: The Daily Beast acknowledged its fault and apologized for publishing a harrowing story about first lady Melania Trump. The outlet has taken down the article that was released last week, alleging she was introduced to President Donald Trump through a modeling agent who was connected with Jeffrey Epstein.

On Monday, September 15, Melania shared the publication’s post on her X handle, 'Retraction & Apology from The Daily Beast'.

Daily Beast offers public apology to Melania Trump

The Daily Beast took down the article titled ‘Melania Trump Very Involved in Epstein Scandal: Author’ as soon as Melania’s attorney contacted the lefty outlet back in July. The editor of the outlet even apologized to her, but they didn’t include an apology or address Michael Wolff’s claims from The Daily Beast podcast that inspired the story.

All traces of the article, including the headline, text body, image, and URL, were taken down quickly from The Daily Beast’s website.

As per the Editor’s Note of The Daily Beast: 'We have determined that the article did not meet our standards and has therefore been removed from our platforms.”

The outlet has also removed a portion from an episode related to Melania, "in response to a letter from the first Lady’s attorneys, The Daily Beast has also removed a portion of an episode of The Daily Beast Podcast titled ‘Trump’s Epstein Scandal Can’t Stop Won’t Stop,’ referencing the first lady."

The lefty outlet shared, "The first lady points to her best-selling book Melania as the definitive account of her life story. We apologize to the first lady and our readers."

Jeet Heer, a left-wing journalist, wrote in The New Republic, "Wolff is a shoddy, dishonest journalist and his book has to be read with suspicion."

Melania Trump dragged into Epstein's false claims

According to author Wolff’s story, Melania was introduced by a model agent, who was well-connected with Epstein. Wolff alleged: “She’s introduced to Trump that way. Epstein knows her well.” Wolff was criticized by Trump, who called him a "third-rate reporter" and laughed at the fake news that was released.

Wolff, who released his book 'Fire & Fury', had to face heavy criticism and questionable claims from his peers. 

Apart from The Daily Beast, Melania's attorney objected to Democratic strategist James Carville about his comments suggesting she had a "connection with Epstein". Carville had to apologize and delete an entire episode of his 'Politics War Room' podcast.

The first lady’s attorney even threatened to sue Hunter Biden for $1 billion for making fake, illogical, and defamatory allegations of her involvement with Epstein. Her attorney demanded that the former first son ‘immediately’ take back the fake and defamatory statements that Hunter made about Melania during a YouTube interview on Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan.

Even though Melania’s memoir was released, where she shared her journey, personal life, and gave an inside account of her story, news about her 'fake' involvement was released.

Melania's memoir shares details about how she met her husband Trump

In Melania's self-titled memoir, published on October 8, 2024, she recounts her marriage and the story of meeting her husband and President Trump.

She recalls meeting him back in September 1998 at a Fashion Week Party at the Kit Kat Klub in New York City. The conversation started when they sat next to each other.

In her memoir, she wrote: “I found myself drawn to his magnetic energy.” She got engaged to Trump six years later, and in 2005, the Slovenian-American former model married Trump.