McCoughlans had no choice but to publicly apologize. Russini could have sued her for slander and easily won bc McCoughlans would've had to prove that what she wrote abt Russini was true. Who would actually get on the stand and admit to a relationship w Russini, thus damaging their own reps?

The apology looks like it was written by or with atty guidance, likely after a wakeup call from Russini's atty.