‘Apprentice’ Contestant Who Alleged Trump Groped Her Sues For Defamation

“For the first time, Summer Zervos saw Trump’s behavior towards her for what it was: a sexual predator who had preyed on her and other women”, the suit says. Trump has denied all claims despite a video surfacing during his campaign in which he makes multiple derogatory comments about women.

Allred said Tuesday that Trump’s rejection of Zervos’s allegations, as well as those by the other women who came forward, had instigated “reputational damage” and “threats of violence”. Zervos did not take questions.

Trump has generally claimed that all of the sexual assault allegations against him are false.

Just days before Mr Trump is about to be inaugurated, her lawyer, Goria Allred, led Ms Zervos into the Los Angeles-based press conference by the hand and read out a statement. He said the situation with her had become “terrible”.

In a bungalow at that hotel Trump aggressively kissed and groped Zervos, she said.

There has been no response to the lawsuit from Trump or his transition team. As of late December, Trump was in the midst of several cases stemming from his real-estate business, as well as “a number of active lawsuits” that stem from activity at his campaign rallies, as CNN has reported. A sitting president can be civilly sued, but a judge could potentially rule that the suit could proceed only after he leaves office. Crew members on “The Apprentice” also allege Trump made offensive statements on set, but that footage remains under wraps. Earlier this month, he participated in a deposition over a lawsuit involving his Washington hotel. He has previously denied all claims of sexual assault and sexually inappropriate behaviour with women.

Zervos accuses Trump of kissing her on the lips and groping her breasts and body while she was a contestant on “The Apprentice”.

“When you looked at that terrible woman last night, you said, ‘I don’t think so, ‘” Trump said at a rally about one of his accusers, a People Magazine reporter who said Trump shoved her against a wall and forcibly kissed her while she was at his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate on assignment in 2005.

Asked why they didn’t go after Trump on the sexual misconduct claims themselves, Allred said “I can’t comment on why we have not asserted other claims”. Trump subsequently called her a liar, and today she sued him for defamation. “I call on Donald Trump to release all of his employees and former employees from their non-disclosure clauses so that they can tell the public what they suffered when they had the unfortunate experience of working for Donald Trump, and I urge him to promise not to retaliate against them if they tell the truth”. “You can expect that many women who have not yet come forward publicly may decide to do so”, she added.