Who is Karen McDougal, the ex-Playboy Playmate who allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump?
The White House released a statement saying Trump denied the affair.
— -- A former Playboy playmate who says she had an affair with Donald Trump has publicly commented on the alleged relationship.
Karen McDougal has said she had the affair with Trump beginning in June 2006, an allegation that resurfaced today in Ronan Farrow's report in The New Yorker.
The White House issued a statement denying The New Yorker story, saying, "This is an old story that is just more fake news. The president says he never had a relationship with McDougal.”
This isn't McDougal's first foray into the public eye.
McDougal was a Playmate of the Month in December 1997, Playmate of the Year in 1998, and the runner-up for Playmate of the Decade for the 1990s.
Health issues
McDougal, 46, has previously addressed breast-implant illness, from which she says she has recovered.
She spoke to People magazine in February 2017 about the illness, saying she got breast implants in 1996 and began suffering from poor health seven years later.
"I would get sick every couple of months and be sick for six to eight weeks at a time," she told People. "It just never went away."
McDougal learned of breast implant illness in 2016 and had her implants removed in January 2017, she said.
"I noticed right away that I had no more blurry vision, I wasn’t blacking out or passing out,” she told the magazine. “I didn’t have the severe migraines, my joint pain was gone, my sound sensitivity was better.”
Her public profile
She regularly shares inspirational quotes and humorous memes on her public Twitter account, using it to promote her magazine appearances.
In a January post featuring an OK magazine article about her, McDougal is cited as a model and lifestyle expert and weighs in on hostess gifts for partygoers.
McDougal posted a similar feature in December from Star magazine where she doled out holiday party advice.
