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E. Jean Carroll, columnist who says Donald Trump raped her, fired from Elle

The longtime advice columnist who accused Donald Trump in 2019 of raping her was fired from her post at Elle.

E. Jean Carroll, who helmed the "Ask E. Jean" column for the magazine since 1993, was let go from her position in December, according to a court filing published Tuesday.

"Because Trump ridiculed my reputation, laughed at my looks, & dragged me through the mud, after 26 years, ELLE fired me," she wrote in a tweet Tuesday. "I don't blame Elle ... I blame @realdonaldtrump."

According to a court filing by Roberta Kaplan, Carroll's lawyer, Elle's managing editor Erin Hobday wrote on Dec. 11, 2019 to confirm that her contract with the company had been terminated and that she would no longer be writing for the publication. Her last column was published in November.

"We and your readers so appreciate your many years of work for the magazine, and the wonderful columns you contributed to our publication," read the email. "We will miss you tremendously."

The news comes after Carroll's counsel requested a saliva sample from Trump to confirm that his DNA matches up with genetic material found on a dress she said she wore during her encounter with Trump. Trump has until March 2 to submit the sample, but his team requested that it be delayed until another defamation case filed by "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos be decided.

Beauty queen, journalist, pioneer: The many faces of Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll

"Trump’s motion is just the latest attempt to prevent Carroll from having her day in court, and a stay (a stop to any legal proceedings) would compound the harms to Carroll that Trump’s defamatory statements continue to cause," read a filing submitted by Carroll's counsel Tuesday.

In an excerpt from her memoir "What Do We Need Men For?" published in New York magazine a month before the book's official release, she alleged that Trump had reached under her dress, pulled down her tights and raped her in a department store dressing room.

Carroll filed a defamation suit against Trump in November, saying he smeared her and hindered her career after the president denied her rape allegation and accused her of lying to bolster book sales. Trump dismissed a photo of them and their spouses at a social event in 1987.

An attempt by Trump's lawyer to get the case thrown out was rejected last month.

A representative from Hearst, Elle's parent company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: E. Jean Carroll, ELLE columnist who says Donald Trump raped her, fired