The John Edwards extramarital affair refers to the extramarital affair 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, an American supermarket tabloid newspaper, but was given little or no coverage by many sources in the American 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.