Karen McDougal’s journey from Playboy to Trump Tower? Her alleged affair with Donald Trump was bought and buried with a ‘catch and kill’ scheme – now she advocates for removing breast implants
In May this year, Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to illegally influence his 2016 US presidential campaign. The so-called hush money case centred around preventing damaging stories about him emerging in the press and the payments that were made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump and was later paid “hush money” not to divulge the details.
Karen McDougal was voted runner up in the “Sexiest Playboy of the 1990s” by readers of Playboy magazine in 2001. Photo: @karenmcdougal/Instagram
In court on April 26, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass described a story about Trump’s alleged 2006-07 affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal as “National Enquirer gold”, referring to the well-known US tabloid. Per The New Yorker, in August 2016, AMI paid McDougal US$150,000 to buy the rights to her story. As a result, her relationship with Trump became a “commodity” in the political world.
Now 53, McDougal has created a life for herself outside the Trump hush money scandal, where she focuses on health issues around breast implants. Here’s what you need to know about the other woman who found herself embroiled in the trial of the century.
Karen McDougal’sPlayboy era
Karen McDougal worked as a fitness model in the 1990s. Photo: @karenmcdougal/Instagram
According to her website, McDougal began working as a fitness model in her 20s and was part of several health and fitness campaigns. In 1997, she was selected as a Playboy Playmate and according to The New York Times, was chosen as Playmate of the Year a year later.
Per People magazine, she was also voted runner-up in the “Sexiest Playmate of the 1990s” in 2001. In 1999, she was the first woman to be on the cover of Men’s Fitness magazine and was regularly used as a fitness model in magazine shoots and advertising campaigns.
Karen McDougal’srelationship with Donald Trump
Karen McDougal alleges she had a 10-month-long relationship with former President Donald Trump. Photo: @karenmcdougal/Instagram
In 2018, McDougal broke her silence on the 10-month long relationship she claims she had with Trump in 2006. According to The New York Times, she said she met Trump at a pool party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. McDougal also told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she visited the former US president at Trump Tower “dozens of times”.
McDougal insisted she was in love and she believed Trump loved her. In a report by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker, the relationship occurred while Trump was married to Melania and around the time Melania gave birth to their son, Barron. In an interview with the Daily Mail, McDougal said she ended the relationship after meeting Bruce Willis and because she felt guilty about the fact that Trump was married. According to McDougal, she dated Willis for six months.
When a relationship becomes a “commodity”
Karen McDougal sold the story of her relationship with Donald Trump to publishing group AMI. Photo: @karenmcdougal/Instagram
Per The New York Times, while Trump was in the middle of his 2016 presidential campaign, he became aware that McDougal was trying to “sell” the story of their relationship to the media. He approached the publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, for help. Eventually Pecker, under the National Enquirer’s publishing group, AMI, bought the rights to her life story for US$150,000 as part of a “catch and kill” process – a scheme which means the story had been bought but would not be published. Part of the deal meant that McDougal was hired to write columns and articles for various publications owned by the publishing house.
Former US president Donald Trump speaks to the media at one of his properties in New York City, on January 11. Photo: TNS
The move was part of a campaign by Trump’s team to mute negative stories about him in the press, now widely known as “hush money deals”. According to The Catch and Kill Podcast with journalist Ronan Farrow, McDougal said she knew the story would not be published but she did not know Trump was involved and did not know why the story wasn’t going to be published.
Her breast implant illness advocate
Karen McDougal suffered from multiple medical issues after getting breast implants in the 1990s. Photo: @karenmcdougal/Instagram
McDougal has become a vocal critic of breast implants, detailing how her implants caused her to have several medical issues including migraines and thyroid issues. Per People, McDougal first had her 34D implants done in 1996 to boost her self-esteem. After multiple health issues, she removed them seven years later.
“I got to the point where I had no life and I literally thought I was dying. It was time to get them removed. Do I regret removing them? No. Do I miss having larger breasts? Yes, of course I do. But my health is so much more important than breasts,” she told People. McDougal often speaks about her experience of BII (breast implant illness) and is an active member in various support groups.
Cameo gigs
McDougal has an active account on Cameo, a service used by influencers and celebrities to create personalised messages for customers for a fee. According to her profile page, she charges US$200 per video, which can include birthday messages, well wishes and celebratory events.
Blood clot awareness
Karen McDougal raises awareness about DVT on her Instagram profile. Photo: @karenmcdougal/Instagram
McDougal has also become an advocate for DVT (deep vein thrombosis) awareness after suffering multiple clots herself. Although the details on her health scare are not known, McDougal regularly posts about DVT, highlighting that anybody can be susceptible to it.
