NEW YORK, USA – In an unusual move, Skyhorse Publishing, the company handling the release of Melania Trump‘s forthcoming memoir, “Melania,” asked CNN to pay $250,000 for an interview with the former first lady, a request the publisher later claimed was a mistake.
The book, due for release on October 8, has drawn media interest, but this particular exchange has raised eyebrows across the journalism industry.
According to CNN, Skyhorse Publishing sent a document labelled “Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement” last week.
The agreement outlined strict terms for the interview, including a licensing fee of $250,000 for CNN to secure the interview and use excerpts or photos from the book.
CNN did not sign the agreement.
Days later, after another inquiry by CNN, Skyhorse acknowledged the error.
Tony Lyons, president of Skyhorse Publishing, stated, “Neither Melania nor anyone from her team knew anything about the NDA, and the document that was sent reflected an internal miscommunication.”
He added, “Had CNN signed an NDA, in the normal course of business, we would have approached Melania’s team to discuss specifics of the interview.”
While the publisher attempted to walk-back the request, the demand stirred concerns within journalistic circles, as paying for interviews is generally frowned upon by major news organizations.
CNN, along with spokespeople from ABC, NBC, and CBS, all declined to comment further on the situation.
Such practices are not common, particularly when dealing with public figures like the spouse of a political candidate, and the demand for a $250,000 fee was deemed particularly unusual.
“It’s totally unprecedented. No former first lady has ever done that,” remarked Kate Anderson Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies.
Anita McBride, who directed The Legacies of America’s First Ladies Initiative at American University, emphasized the irregularity of the situation.
“While first ladies have received handsome fees for writing books, such a payment for a news interview is unusual,” she said.
The controversy comes as Melania Trump begins promoting her book ahead of its October release. So far, the former first lady has only given interviews to Fox News, with her spokesperson confirming that no fees were involved in those arrangements.
Last month, CNN revealed that Melania Trump had been paid $237,500 for a speech at an April event hosted by the Log Cabin Republicans, a payment listed in former President Donald Trump’s financial disclosure form.
Financial records show this is in line with other high-paying engagements Melania Trump has taken on since her husband’s departure from the White House.
Despite Skyhorse’s insistence that the $250,000 request was a mistake, the demand, as written in the agreement, included a provision for liquidated damages of $100,000 for any breach of the confidentiality terms by CNN employees involved in the interview.
“It’s super suspect that a political figure’s spouse would want to be paid for something,” said Kelly McBride, Senior Vice President at the Poynter Institute’s Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership.
McBride emphasised that paying for interviews can incentivize subjects to alter their stories, which risks distorting the truth.
Though it remains unclear whether other networks were approached with a similar request, the incident reflects the heightened scrutiny surrounding Melania Trump as she steps back into the public eye, navigating both personal promotion and her husband’s ongoing presidential campaign.
As the release of Melania approaches, and with no further public comment from the Trump campaign on the book, it remains to be seen whether the controversy will impact how the memoir is received by the public or by news outlets hoping for further access to the former first lady.
