PLAYBOY icon Karen McDougal rose to fame after being named Playmate of the Year in 1998.
Three years later, readers voted her the runner-up of The Sexiest Playmate of the 1990s, and now fans want to know more about her career and connection to Donald Trump.
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Who is Karen McDougal?
Karen McDougal is an American model, actress, and former nursery school teacher, who was born on March 23, 1971, in Gary, Indiana.
Her career in the entertainment industry began in the 1990s after she was "discovered" at a swimwear competition.
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“I was always wholesome little Karen,” she told Playboy.
“In high school, my nickname was Barbie, as in Barbie doll—the nice, sweet, perfect girl. That sort of girl isn’t expected to be seen in the most-looked-at men’s magazine in the world.”
While being a Playboy model might not have been her envision, she has since capitalized on the exposure and has been seen in multiple magazines, television commercials, and minor acting roles.
Her resume includes roles in Charlie's Angels (2000), The Arena (2001), The Girl Next Door (2004), and Stiletto (2008).
Thanks to the success of her career, she has been able to amass an estimated net worth of $1million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
What are Karen McDougal's claims about Donald Trump?
While McDougal might have a successful career in the entertainment industry, she is arguably best known for the allegations she made against Trump.
She claims that she had a 10-month affair with the former president between 2006 and 2007, a time period that overlaps with his alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The alleged affair- which Trump has continuously denied- began in 2006 at the Beverly Hills Hotel and lasted until April 2007, when she broke it off because of guilt, according to the Associated Press.
In an attempt to tell her story, McDougal sold the rights to the National Enquirer in 2016 for $150,000, however, the story never ran.
According to AP, they suppressed the story until after the 2016 Presidential Election in a journalism practice known as “catch and kill," which is when an outlet prevents someone from publicly revealing information that could damage a third party.
“It took my rights away,” McDougal told Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker in 2018.
“At this point I feel I can’t talk about anything without getting into trouble, because I don’t know what I’m allowed to talk about. I’m afraid to even mention his name.”
American Media Inc., which owned the National Enquirer until February 2023, has since acknowledged that the payments were made to specifically assist Trump's election bid.
In June 2021, they were then ordered to pay a fine of $187,500 after the FEC found that the money they paid McDougal "knowingly and willfully" violated election laws, according to BBC.
McDougal has since been released from the contract.
What has Donald Trump said about Karen McDougal's allegations?
Over the years, Trump has not spoken about the allegations publicly, but he has continuously denied them.
“This is an old story that is just more fake news," a White House spokesperson said in a 2018 statement to The New Yorker.
"The President says he never had a relationship with McDougal.”
While Trump might have denied the affair, it is now a topic of discussion for the Manhattan district attorney, who has been investigating the real estate mogul for his alleged role in a hush-money scheme involving Daniels.
In March 2023, he was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury and now faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud, according to CNN.
In a statement, which was released on March 30, Trump said: “I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden.
“The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump is expected to surrender and appear in court on April 4, 2023.
Is Karen McDougal married and does she have any children?
Over the years, McDougal has been linked to several high-profile men, including actor Bruce Willis, and Young Hollywood founder R.J. Williams.
However, she has never been married. She also does not have any known children.
Since McDougal's allegations against Trump were made public, she has stayed out of the spotlight so it is unclear if she is in a relationship at this time.
