The Daily Beast issued a public apology to first lady Melania Trump on Sept. 10, saying a July item alleging an Epstein connection to the first lady "did not meet our standards" and had been removed from its platforms.
The updated editor's note said the outlet had also removed a portion of an episode of The Daily Beast Podcast titled "Trump’s Epstein Scandal Can’t Stop Won’t Stop" that referenced the first lady. "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," the note said. Melania Trump shared the apology on X.
The article and podcast segment were based on claims made by author Michael Wolff on a Daily Beast podcast, in which Wolff said the first lady was "very involved" in President Trump's relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein and that she was introduced to Trump by a modeling agent associated with Epstein. The Daily Beast's decision to retract the article and excise the podcast material followed engagement from the first lady's lawyers.
Wolff's reporting on the matter has been met with skepticism from journalists across the political spectrum. President Trump has previously criticized Wolff, calling him a "Third Rate Reporter ... laughed at even by the scoundrels of the Fake News." The Daily Beast initially replaced the July article with an editor's note and then updated that note on Sept. 10 to include a direct apology to the first lady.
The retraction and apology follow a string of legal warnings from Melania Trump's attorneys to individuals and outlets that repeated Wolff's assertions. Democratic strategist James Carville publicly apologized and removed an episode of his podcast last month after being contacted by the first lady's lawyers for suggesting an "Epstein connection". The first lady's legal team also signaled potential suits against others who have repeated the claims.
Among those targeted by the threat of litigation is Hunter Biden, whom the first lady's attorneys told media they would sue for more than $1 billion over statements he made on a YouTube program that cited Wolff's remarks. Hunter Biden defended the comments as based on Wolff's reporting.
In her 2024 memoir, Melania wrote that she met Donald Trump at a September 1998 Fashion Week party at the Kit Kat Klub in New York. She described Trump as sitting next to her and beginning a conversation and said the couple became engaged six years later and married in 2005.
The Daily Beast apology marks the latest correction in a dispute over reporting tied to Epstein and underscores the legal and political sensitivity surrounding allegations that link public figures to the convicted sex offender. The outlet did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment beyond its editor's note.