Us Weekly magazine has retracted a story about model and reality star Kendall Jenner and her father, former Olympian Bruce Jenner.
“We would like to retract the story entirely and have removed it from our website. We sincerely apologize to Ms. Jenner and her family,” the magazine said Thursday on its website.
Us Weekly had quoted the sister, a member of the Kardashian family, as saying she supported her father, who has made entertainment headlines over rumors that he is becoming a woman.
“He’s a wonderful man. And just because he’s changing shoes now, so to speak, doesn’t make him less wonderful. I will always love my dad, whether he’s a man or a woman,” the magazine quoted her as saying.
But Kendall Jenner said she never said that.
“How is it legal for someone to ‘quote’ someone and publish it if in fact you never said what was quoted?” she tweeted.
Us Weekly said on its website: “The interview was allegedly conducted by an independent freelance journalist at the Saturday, March 14, taping of Comedy Central’s roast of Justin Bieber in Los Angeles. When Ms. Jenner denied, via Twitter, that the interview took place, Us Weekly immediately reached out to the freelance reporter.
“He stood by the interview, and continues to maintain that the quotes are accurate. However, after attempting to reconfirm his account, editors of Us have concerns about the veracity of this interview and the circumstances under which it was obtained.”
Bruce Jenner has not commented publicly on speculation that he’s transitioning to a woman, so any comments from his relatives would essentially be confirming the rumors.
CNN’s attempts to get comment from him, his agents and his mother about the rumors have gone unanswered.