The John Edwards extramarital affair was admitted to in August 2008 by John Edwards, a former United States Senator from North Carolina and Democratic Party presidential candidate. The affair was initially reported by The National Enquirer, a US supermarket tabloid newspaper, but was given little or no coverage by many sources in the US mainstream media. The Enquirer cited claims by an anonymous source that Edwards had engaged in the affair with Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker hired to work for his presidential campaign, and that the relationship had produced a child.

 

The allegations, initially published in late 2007, were denied by both Edwards and Hunter. Andrew Young, a member of Edwards' campaign team, claimed paternity of Hunter's daughter; although no father is listed on the child's birth certificate and Young has subsequently denied it. The Enquirer's claims received little attention outside the tabloid press and political blogosphere until July 2008, when several mainstream media news outlets cited them in relation to Edwards' future political career, and his chances of being selected as a running mate in Barack Obama's 2008 presidential bid.

 

On August 7, 2008, Edwards admitted to ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff that he did have an extended affair with Hunter, but denied he was the father of Hunter's baby girl. Hunter's sister claimed that Edwards was the father, and publicly asked Edwards to take a paternity test to determine whether the child was his. 

 

On January 21, 2010, Edwards issued a statement admitting he was the father. After Edwards' admission that he fathered a child with his mistress, Edwards' wife Elizabeth separated from him and intended to file for divorce. ABC News reports that Young stated that Edwards asked him to "Get a doctor to fake the DNA results...and to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child." On January 25, 2010, reports surfaced of the existence of an explicit sex tape featuring Edwards and Rielle Hunter. 

 

When Edwards first admitted the affair, he said that his wife Elizabeth was in remission from breast cancer. However, it became clear that the affair was still ongoing even after he and Elizabeth made a joint announcement that her cancer had returned and was found to be incurable. Elizabeth died on December 7, 2010.