CNN —
Nearly two months ago, CNN contacted the publisher of Melania Trump’s book to request an interview with the former first lady ahead of her upcoming memoir. After some back and forth about a possible interview, the publisher sent me an unusual request last week: the interview would cost $250,000.
Skyhorse Publishing said in an email to CNN that the book, titled Melania, scheduled for publication on October 8th, contains a “confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement” that sets out strict terms and conditions regarding the use of the interview and material. A document was sent. The agreement provided that “CNN shall pay a license fee of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).”
CNN did not sign the agreement.
A few days later, when another CNN reporter questioned Skyhorse Publishing about the outrageous reporting, the publisher said it had mistakenly sent a payment reminder.
“Neither Melania Melania nor anyone on her team knew anything about the NDA, and the documents they sent reflected a miscommunication within the company,” Tony Lyons, president and publisher of Skyhorse, told CNN. said in a statement. “Had CNN signed the NDA, we would have reached out to Melania’s team in the normal course of business to discuss (the details of the interview),” Lyons said.
Paying celebrities, especially the spouses of political candidates, for interviews is highly frowned upon by most news organizations, which tend to have strict guidelines against such behavior. It is also highly unusual that the request comes from an agent purporting to represent the spouse of a presidential candidate and a former first lady, especially one that involves such a large amount of money.
A spokeswoman for Melania Trump declined to comment. A CNN spokesperson also declined to comment.
Even if the request was a miscommunication, the NDA’s asking price reflects a similar amount to what she was compensated in the past.
Last month, CNN reported that the former first lady spoke at two Log Cabin Republican political fundraisers this year and was paid $237,500 for the April event, according to former President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure forms. revealed that he had received it. The payment was listed as “speaker activity.”
Records show Melania Trump was also paid $250,000 for a Log Cabin Republican event in December 2022, and Donald Trump said Melania Trump received $250,000 for a speech the same month. It was one of three payments of more than $1,000 and came shortly after he announced he was running for re-election. Financial disclosure forms for previous years.
“Confidential material” in the contract refers to “unpublished manuscripts of the work, notes, letters, photographs, or oral information of any kind, as well as any material from third parties that the publisher or author treats as proprietary and has designated as confidential. All information obtained.” material. ”
According to the documents, CNN employees who cooperate with the interviews must sign nondisclosure agreements, and each violation of the nondisclosure agreement will result in $100,000 in “liquidated damages” to Mr. Trump and/or his publisher. The right to pay “money” will be granted.
The NDA includes signatures from CNN, Lyons, the president of Skyhorse Publishing, which is distributed by Simon & Schuster, and former first lady deputy Mark Beckman.
The contract specifically specifies that the payments will be for an interview with a media company (CNN) and licensing fees for photos and book excerpts. Even if the contract was sent as an “internal communication error”, it is unusual for such a prominent person to make such a request from a publisher.
“It’s completely unprecedented. No former first lady has ever done that,” said Kate Anderson Brower, author of “First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies.”
Anita McBride, director of the Legacy of America’s First Ladies initiative at American University and a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, said first ladies are paid handsomely for writing books. However, he said in a news interview that he would not receive such compensation. Not normal.
“It’s a consistent practice for Mrs. Trump to make choices that work for her and not to be bound by anyone else’s past practices. She thinks about herself in everything in her life.” said McBride. “That’s the premise of her book: I made my own choices and wasn’t bound to anyone else before her.”
Ahead of the memoir’s publication, Trump has so far only given interviews on Fox News, which exclusively promoted his first conversation with Ainsley Earhart in two years last month. The interview included what appeared to be old family and personal photos.
President Trump was also interviewed by Fox’s Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, and an interview with Maria Bartiromo is scheduled to air on Sunday.
A Fox News spokesperson told CNN: “We did not pay any fees for the interview, including fees for the use of photos.”
Spokespeople for ABC, NBC and CBS declined to comment on whether they had received similar payment requests from Trump’s publishers.
The former first lady posted a short video to X on Thursday in which she said there is “no room for compromise” when it comes to women’s “personal freedoms.” The post came after The Guardian reported an excerpt from Trump’s upcoming book in which he said he supported abortion rights “without interference or pressure from the government.”
While it is not unheard of for news organizations to pay exclusivity fees for material or interviews, especially those related to scandals, it is considered to cross ethical boundaries in the industry and is not standard practice.
Kelly McBride, senior vice president and director of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at the Poynter Institute, said that payments “encourage the target person to change or exaggerate what they say to make it more valuable to the organization.” (No relation to Anita McBride) “When interviewing people, your goal is to take their perspective to get closer to the truth and see if there is any motive to distort that you are letting your audience down.”
McBride said news organizations will often avoid interview costs by paying licensing fees for materials such as photos and videos.
In 2008, ABC News paid Casey Anthony $200,000 for exclusive use of family photos and videos of her daughter, who was later found dead. The amount of the payment was not disclosed until it was filed in court in connection with Anthony’s lawsuit in 2010. (An ABC News official told CNN on Wednesday that the station did not pay for the interview.) .
NBC once placed money in a trust fund for a Washington state high school student who faked a pregnancy for her senior project in exchange for footage of the student revealing the ruse to her classmates.
However, payments or donations from politically connected reporters or news organizations are considered the ultimate abhorrence because of conflicts of interest.
In 2015, ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos apologized for not disclosing a $75,000 donation to the Clinton Foundation and subsequently canceled ABC’s scheduled 2016 Republican presidential primary debate. declined to participate.
Melania Trump is not running, but political spouses are often viewed as a package deal with potential partners, said McBride of the Poynter Institute. However, in this case, the Trump campaign had no involvement in the publication of Melania Trump’s book.
Couples typically share bank accounts and property and are considered a single economic entity, McBride said. In the case of a divorce, assets are generally considered joint, even if neither party is listed in the accounts. But it’s unclear how much, if any, of their accounts are shared, as first lady Melania Trump and Donald Trump reportedly have a prenuptial agreement in place.
“It’s highly suspicious that the spouse of a politician would try to get something in return,” McBride said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Brian Stelter contributed to this report.
