The company that owns the National Enquirer, which endorsed Donald Trump for president, paid $150,000 to an ex-Playboy centerfold for her story about an affair she claimed to have had with the GOP nominee a decade ago – but then didn’t publish it, a new report said Friday

The tabloid’s publisher cut a deal in August with Karen McDougal, the 1998 Playmate of the Year, the Wall Street Journal reported (paywall).

American Media Inc., which owns the Enquirer, didn’t publish anything else about what she told pals was a consensual tryst she had with Trump in 2006 when he was married to his wife Melania.

Quashing stories that way is known in the tabloid world as “catch and kill,” the paper said.

In a written statement, the company said it wasn’t buying McDougal’s story for $150,000, but rather two years’ worth of her fitness columns and magazine covers as well as exclusive rights to any relationship she has had with a then-married man.

“AMI has not paid people to kill damaging stories about Mr. Trump,” the statement said.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the Journal the tale of the affair was “totally untrue.”