A former Apprentice contestant who accuses US President-elect Donald Trump of sexual assault has filed a defamation lawsuit against him.
Summer Zervos, who alleges Mr Trump forced himself on her in 2007, said he lied to the nation about his behaviour.
The lawsuit, which Ms Zervos announced at a news conference, alleges Mr Trump is a “liar and misogynist” who “debased and denigrated” her.
The news came just three days before Mr Trump is sworn in as president.
Mr Trump faced a spate of sexual misconduct allegations in the run up to the election, all of which he has denied.
At the time, he dismissed them as “false and ridiculous” and said they were “sick” and driven by fame, money or politics.
“Since Mr Trump has not issued a retraction, as I requested, he has therefore left me with no alternative but to sue him in order to vindicate my reputation,” Ms Zervos told journalists in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
She was joined by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, a Democratic party activist, who said the plaintiff’s allegations had passed a lie detector test.
‘Thrown under the bus’
Ms Zervos is one of several women who came forward to accuse the incoming 45th president of sexual assault after the October release of a 2005 videotape in which he is heard making lewd comments about groping women.
The 41-year-old former reality show contestant said Mr Trump had sexually assaulted her during a meeting to discuss job opportunities at a Beverly Hills hotel.
She said he “began thrusting his genitals” as she fended off his advances.
Also on Tuesday, a FEMEN protester choose an easier way to defend women against Trump’s verbal and physical sexual assaults.
A topless activist from the feminist group Femen attacks a lifesize statue of Donald Trump during an unveiling ceremony at a waxwork museum in Madrid on Tuesday.
The woman shouts ‘grab patriarchy by the balls’ – a reference to Trump’s boasting in a leaked recording of grabbing women ‘by the pussy’.
