CNN requested an interview with Melania Trump. His publisher asked for $250,000 in exchange

CNN-

Nearly two months ago, CNN contacted Melania Trump's book publisher to request an interview with the former first lady ahead of her upcoming memoir. After several discussions about a possible interview, the publisher sent an unusual request last week: an interview would cost $250,000.

In an email to CNN, Skyhorse Publishing sent a document titled Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement that set out strict terms for an interview and use of material from the book, titled Melania, which was to be released on October 8 . On top of that, the agreement stipulated that CNN will pay a licensing fee of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

CNN did not sign the agreement.

Days later, after another CNN reporter asked Skyhorse Publishing about the exorbitant interview fees, the publisher said it had sent the payment request in error.

Neither Melania nor anyone on her team knew anything about the NDA and the document sent reflected an internal communications problem, Tony Lyons, president and publisher of Skyhorse, told CNN in a statement. If CNN had signed an NDA, in the normal course of business we would have contacted Melania's team to discuss it. [specifics of the interview]Lyons said.

Paying a public figure for an interview, especially the spouse of a political candidate, is frowned upon in most newsrooms, which tend to have strict guidelines against such a practice. It's also highly unusual for the request to come from a representative claiming to act on behalf of the spouse of a presidential candidate and a former first lady – especially with such a high price tag.

Melania Trump's spokeswoman declined to comment. A CNN spokesperson also declined to comment.

Even if the request was a misunderstanding, the asking price in the NDA reflects the similar amount she has been compensated for in the past.

Last month, CNN revealed that the former first lady spoke at two political fundraisers for Log Cabin Republicans this year, and that she received $237,500 for an event in April, according to the Former President Donald Trump's final financial disclosure form. The payment was listed as a speaking engagement.

Records show Melania Trump also received $250,000 for a Republican log cabin event in December 2022, one of three payments of $250,000 or more she received for speaking that month , just after the former president announced he was running for re-election, according to Donald Trump. financial declaration form from the previous year.

Confidential material in the contract is described as the unpublished manuscript of the work, notes, letters, photos or verbal information of any kind and any information obtained from a third party that the publisher or author treats as proprietary and designated as confidential material.

Any CNN employee who worked on the interview would be required to sign the NDA, the contract states, and each violation of the NDA would entitle Trump and/or his publisher to damages of $100,000, according to the document.

The NDA has bylines for CNN, Lyons, the president of Skyhorse Publishing, distributed by Simon & Schuster, and the first lady's former agent Marc Beckman.

It is specifically stated in the contract that the payment will be used for an interview with a media company – CNN as well as licensing photos and excerpts from the book. Although the contract was sent following an internal communications problem, it is an unusual request from the publisher of such a high-profile person.

This is completely unprecedented. No former first lady has ever done this, said Kate Anderson Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of Americas Modern First Ladies.

Anita McBride, director of the America's First Ladies Initiative at American University and a former special assistant in the White House to George W. Bush, said that although first ladies received significant honoraria for the writing books, such payment for an interview is unusual. .

It is a consistent practice of Mrs. Trump to make the choices that work for her and not be burdened by anyone's past practices. She is her own business in everything about her life, McBride said. This is the premise of his book. I made my choices and I wasn't forced by anyone else before her.

Ahead of the release of his memoir, Trump has so far only been interviewed by Fox News, which last month touted a meeting with Ainsley Earhard as an exclusive, the first with the former first lady in two years. The interview included what appeared to be old family and personal photographs.

Trump was also interviewed by Fox's Sean Hannity on Wednesday night and an interview with Maria Bartiromo will air on Sunday.

We paid no fees for the interviews, including licensing fees for photos, a Fox News spokesperson told CNN.

Spokespeople for ABC, NBC and CBS declined to say whether they had received a similar payment request from Trump's publisher.

On Thursday, the former first lady posted a short video on X arguing that there was no room for compromise when it came to women's individual freedoms. The message came after the Guardian reported excerpts from Trump's upcoming book in which she claims to support abortion rights without any government intervention or pressure.

Although it is not uncommon for news organizations to pay for exclusive rights to material or interviews particularly linked to scandals, this is considered by the industry to cross ethical boundaries and not constitute standard practice. .

The payment incentivizes the subject to change what they say to make it more valuable to the organization, to exaggerate or sensationalize, said Kelly McBride, senior vice president and president of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and leadership of the Poynter Institute (no relation to Anita). McBride). Your goal when interviewing people is to bring their perspective so you can get closer to the truth, and if they are incentivized to misrepresent that you are letting your audience down.

McBride said news organizations will often just pay for an interview, paying instead to license material like photos or videos.

In 2008, ABC News paid Casey Anthony $200,000 for exclusive use of family photographs and videos of her daughter, whose body was later discovered. The payments were not disclosed until a court filing related to Anthony's case was filed in 2010. (An ABC News source told CNN on Wednesday that the network did not pay for interviews).

NBC once placed money in a trust fund for a Washington state high school student who faked a pregnancy as part of a senior project in exchange for video of the student revealing the ruse to her classmates.

But any payment or donation from journalists or news organizations linked to politics is considered the ultimate anathema, due to conflicts of interest.

In 2015, ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos apologized for failing to disclose $75,000 in donations to the Clinton Foundation, later recusing himself from the 2016 Republican presidential primary debate scheduled by ABC.

Even if Melania Trump doesn't run for office, political spouses are often seen as a package deal with their candidate partners, said McBride of the Poynter Institute. But in this case, the Trump campaign was not involved in the release of Melania Trump's book.

Married couples are generally considered a single economic entity, sharing bank accounts and property, McBride noted. In a divorce, property is generally considered divided even if both parties are not listed on the accounts. But Melania and Donald Trump reportedly have a prenuptial agreement, so it's unclear how much of their accounts, if any, are shared.

It's very suspicious that a political figure's spouse would want to get paid for something, McBride said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN's Brian Stelter contributed to this report.

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