While Melania Trump has been largely absent from the campaign trail this year, she’s been busy online hawking her forthcoming memoir, Melania. Last week, the former First Lady ratcheted up her book-promo efforts by sitting down with Fox & Friends, where she attempted to convince the public that she loves her husband’s “being,” his “positivity,” and his “unbelievable” energy. Apparently, CNN also requested an interview with Melania — but according to a new report, they were told a sit-down with the former First Lady would cost $250,000.
Per CNN, after several exchanges about a potential interview with Melania, her publisher, Skyhorse Publishing, emailed over a document titled “Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement.” The NDA reportedly required that CNN pay “a licensing fee of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000)” for the use of photos and excerpts from Melania and for the interview itself. The outlet claims the contract also stipulated that all employees working on the interview sign the NDA, with any breaches resulting in “liquidated damages” of $100,000 owed to Melania or her publisher. CNN opted not to sign the agreement, noting that “paying a public figure for an interview, especially the spouse of a political candidate, is highly frowned upon in most newsrooms, which tend to have strict guidelines against such a practice.”
My Story.
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) September 5, 2024
My Perspective.
The Truth. https://t.co/ZCTwZSqZND pic.twitter.com/HHGQaA6d5v
When reached for comment by CNN, Skyhorse apparently chalked all of this up to a mistake. “Neither Melania nor anyone from her team knew anything about the NDA, and the document that was sent reflected an internal miscommunication,” Tony Lyons, the president and publisher of Skyhorse, told CNN in a statement. “Had CNN signed an NDA, in the normal course of business, we would have approached Melania’s team to discuss [specifics of the interview].”
According to CNN, Melania’s camp declined to comment on the matter. When asked if they had received similar payment requests from Skyhorse, CNN reports that spokespeople for ABC, NBC, and CBS also declined to respond. Regardless of how this pans out, Melania’s certainly no stranger to weird paid appearances. According to her husband’s financial disclosure forms, she was reportedly paid $250,000 to speak at a Log Cabin Republican event in 2022 and spoke at two other Log Cabin political fundraisers this year. I sure hope her speeches were riveting and worth every penny.
We reached out to Skyhorse and Melania’s representatives for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
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