Melania Trump’s publisher requested a $250,000 payment from CNN in exchange for an interview about her upcoming memoir, the network reports.
Skyhorse Publishing, which is set to publish the former first lady’s Melania next week, responded to CNN’s request for an interview with a document that it called a “Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement.” It read, in part, “CNN shall pay a licensing fee of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).”
The network declined to pay the publisher. Paying a source for an interview, or “checkbook journalism,” is widely considered unethical in the United States, although it is not uncommon in other parts of the world.
Skyhorse told CNN that it had sent the document to the network mistakenly. The press’ publisher and president, Tony Lyons, said, “Neither Melania nor anyone from her team knew anything about the NDA and the document that was sent reflected an internal miscommunication.”
Trump’s memoir has been making headlines before its release. On Thursday, the Guardian reported that in her book, Trump defends abortion rights, writing, “Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”
Her position is not shared by her husband, former President Donald Trump, who has described himself as “pro-life” and appointed three U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
