E. Jean Carroll Says She Was Fired from Elle After Accusing Trump of Rape

Carroll’s initial accusation against Trump appears in her 2019 book “What Do We Need Men For?”, in which she described being raped by Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in the mid-1990s.

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E. Jean Carroll, the veteran columnist and author who has accused Donald Trump of raping her in the ‘90s, said Tuesday that Elle magazine fired her after Trump’s public attacks on her reputation.

Carroll blamed her firing on Trump, whom she publicly accused of rape in a book except published in a June 2019 issue of New York Magazine. A new filing on Tuesday in Carroll’s ongoing defamation suit includes allegations that Trump “smearing” her reputation led to her receiving significantly fewer letters from readers — and ultimately being fired.

“Because Trump ridiculed my reputation, laughed at my looks, & dragged me through the mud, after 26 years, ELLE fired me,” Carroll wrote on Twitter. “I don't blame Elle. It was the great honor of my life writing ‘Ask E. Jean.’ I blame @realdonaldtrump.”

Carroll first sued Trump for defamation in November, and a New York judge has rejected at least one of Trump’s attempts to throw out the case because he’s not a state resident, The New York Times reported.

The new court filing against Trump obtained by NowThis includes a Dec. 11 email from Elle’s executive managing editor, Erin Hobday, telling Carroll that the magazine would terminate her contract and would pay her for five remaining columns. A spokesperson for Hearst had not responded to NowThis’ request for comment as of Wednesday afternoon.

“We and your readers so appreciate your many years of work for the magazine, and the wonderful columns you contributed to our publication,” Hobday wrote. “We will miss you tremendously.”

The filing also mentions that Trump’s lawyer has requested to delay Carroll’s case against him until a similar defamation suit is resolved involving former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos, who has alleged that Trump defamed her after she publicly accused him in 2016 of sexually assaulting her in 2007. His team is asking a court of appeals whether a sitting president can be sued. Trump has denied Zervos’ allegations, and his lawyer has not publicly responded to Carroll’s latest filing.

“Our client filed this lawsuit to prove that Donald Trump lied about sexually assaulting her and to restore her credibility and reputation. From the very beginning, Trump has tried every tactic lawyers can think of to halt this case in its tracks and keep the truth from coming out,” Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said in a statement. “His latest effort — a motion to stay our client’s case until the New York Court of Appeals decides the Summer Zervos case likely after November 2020 — is yet another obvious delay tactic that is not grounded in the law and, like his previous attempts to stall this case, will be rejected by the court.”

Carroll’s initial accusation against Trump appears in her 2019 book “What Do We Need Men For?”, in which she described being raped by Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in the mid-1990s. She shared the anecdote with two other people, both of whom have since corroborated Carroll’s account in interviews with outlets including The New York Times. A White House spokesperson has told New York magazine that the account is “completely false,” and Trump has said that he had “no idea” who Carroll is.

At least 25 women have accused Trump of sexual assault or misconduct, according to Business Insider.