OAN apologizes to Michael Cohen for false sex allegations in embarrassing retraction

OAN, a conservative news network, issued a retraction and apology to former attorney Michael Cohen after falsely reporting he had a six-month affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

In a statement on Monday, OAN made it clear that no one should rely on the outlet's reporting about Cohen's alleged affair. The outlet said it had used a source supposedly in contact with disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti, who subsequently denied that he ever made such claims.

"The so-called whistleblower, Mr. Avenatti, has denied making the allegations. OAN apologizes to Mr. Cohen for any harm the publication may have caused him," the statement said.

"The article, quoting a source, falsely claimed that Mr. Cohen and Ms. Daniels 'were having an affair since 2006' and that, according to a source, 'the whole hush money scheme was cooked up by [Mr. Cohen] to extort the Trump Organization before the 2016 election,'" the statement continued. "These statements were false. OAN regrets their publication."

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"To be clear, no evidence suggests that Mr. Cohen and Ms. Daniels were having an affair and no evidence suggests that Mr. Cohen 'cooked up' the scheme to extort the Trump Organization before the 2016 election."

For his part, Cohen denied the affair.

“I did not have an affair with Stormy Daniels and furthermore I did not ‘cook up’ the allegations to extort the Trump Organization before the 2016 election,” Cohen said. “The notion that right before the election I would extort the man I fervently supported and believed was about to become president, all to make $130,000 that I did not even keep for myself, is beyond absurd. It’s just plain stupid.”