American supermodel and actress Emily Ratajkowski took to Twitter on Monday to expose a New York Times reporter for telling her that First Lady Melania Trump is a "hooker."
Ratajkowski attended a New York Fashion Week event on Sunday night and said that the reporter's comment deserved scrutiny because it was "slut shaming" and "sexist."
Sat next to a journalist from the NYT last night who told me "Melania is a hooker." Whatever your politics it's crucial to call this out for
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) February 13, 2017
what it is: slut shaming. I don't care about her nudes or sexual history and no one should.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) February 13, 2017
Gender specific attacks are disgusting sexist bullshit.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) February 13, 2017
After the tweet received a lot of attention, a Times spokesperson provided a statement to Politico.
"At a party last night, a Times reporter who does not cover Washington or politics, referred to an unfounded rumor regarding Melania Trump," the spokesperson said. "The comment was not intended to be public, but it was nonetheless completely inappropriate and should not have occurred. Editors have talked to the reporter in question about the lapse."
This isn't the first time the first lady has been targeted with unfounded rumors. Trump is currently in the midst of a lawsuit with Daily Mail, after the publication ran an article that included the unsubstantiated claim that she was once a "high-end escort."
She recently settled a defamation lawsuit against Webster Griffin Tarpley, a Maryland-based blogger who repeated two rumors on his blog, Politico reported. Tarpley wrote that Melania Trump was an "escort" during her modeling career, and that she had nervous breakdowns during the presidential campaign. He has retracted his articles and issued a public apology.
"I posted an article on August 2, 2016 about Melania Trump that was replete with false and defamatory statements about her," reads Tarpley’s statement. "I had no legitimate factual basis to make these false statements and I fully retract them. I acknowledge that these false statements were very harmful and hurtful to Mrs. Trump and her family, and therefore I sincerely apologize to Mrs. Trump, her son, her husband and her parents for making these false statements."