Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP – Getty Images

Dominique Strauss-Kahn leaves Paris' courthouse after a hearing Tuesday on a tell-all penned by an ex-lover.

French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn lost his bid to have a court ban a kiss-and-tell book by an ex-lover who has described him as a sex-obsessed "half-man, half-pig" -- but he will collect damages.

In a ruling late Tuesday, a judge green-lighted publication of "Beauty and Beast" by Marcelle Iacub, a lawyer and columnist who had a seven-month affair with the former head of the International Monetary Fund, Le Monde reported.

The court agreed to Strauss-Kahn's demand that a disclaimer declaring his privacy had been invaded be included in every copy. It also ordered the author, the publisher and a magazine that printed excerpts to pay him $98,000, the newspaper said.

Hours before his partial victory, Strauss-Kahn appeared in a Paris courtroom to complain of the "horror" of having his love life exposed, The Guardian reported.

Christian Hartmann / Reuters

"Belle et Bete" ("Beauty and Beast") by Marcela Iacub details her seven-month affair with Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

"Is anything allowed in order to make money?" he asked, branding the book a cheap shot against "a man already down on the ground."

The affair chronicled in the book unfolded while Strauss-Kahn was embroiled in scandal over allegations he sexually assaulted a hotel maid in New York. Criminal charges were dropped by prosecutors who questioned the woman's credibility; Strauss-Kahn later settled a civil claim out of court.

Iacub's book, which is due to go on sale Wednesday, doesn't name Strauss-Kahn, but she has said it's about him. Excerpts published in Le Nouvel Observateur -- accompanied by an interview in which she referred to him as "half-man, half-pig" -- are decidedly unflattering.

"You were old, you were fat, you were short and you were ugly," the 48-year-old former mistress wrote, according to the Guardian. "You were macho, you were vulgar, you were insensitive and you were stingy. You were selfish, you were brutal and you had no culture. And I was mad about you."

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers contend he was seduced into a money-making trap and they tried to persuade the court with an email in which Iacub purportedly confessed the romance was a plot cooked up by her co-workers.

Iacub said she didn't remember the email, disavowed its contents and issued a warning to the Socialist leader once touted as presidential material before scandal doomed his career.

"I don't think it's in [Strauss-Kahn's] best interest for me to start searching through my emails," she said, according to London's Daily Telegraph.

Strauss-Kahn, who is under investigation in connection with a French sex ring, had asked for a disclaimer to be printed in every copy of "Beauty and Beast" already distributed, a ban on more copies being printed, and $130,000 in damages. 

As he left the courthouse, he said there was one more thing on his wish-list: "To be left alone."

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is suing the hotel housekeeper who accused him of sexually assaulting her, saying she seriously damaged his reputation with what he calls a bogus allegation.

The former International Monetary Fund leader struck back at maid Nafissatou Diallo's lawsuit against him with a $1 million defamation claim of his own Monday, exactly a year after she told police he tried to rape her in his Manhattan hotel suite. He says whatever happened was consensual.

Read the original report at NBC New York

He was arrested, resigned from the IMF and spent several days behind bars and three months on house arrest before prosecutors dropped the case, saying they'd lost confidence in Diallo's trustworthiness because she'd lied about her background and changed her account of what she did right after leaving Strauss-Kahn's room. Although prosecutors didn't say they believed she misrepresented the encounter itself, Strauss-Kahn's court papers blast her claims as intentional lies.

"As a direct result of her malicious and wanton false accusation, Mr. Strauss-Kahn suffered ... substantial harm to his professional and personal reputation in the United States and throughout the world," says his Bronx court filing, written by attorneys William W. Taylor III, Hugh Campbell and others. 

Strauss-Kahn's suit was submitted two weeks after the same court rejected his argument that diplomatic immunity should shield him from Diallo's suit, a ruling he may yet appeal.

Diallo's lawyers said Strauss-Kahn's defamation claim an example of the "misogynistic attitude" of a man who now faces preliminary charges of being involved in a hotel prostitution ring in France.

As of last week, French investigators were also examining accusations that Strauss-Kahn may have been involved in a rape during a sex party in a Washington, D.C., hotel in 2010. Separately, a French writer accused him last year of having tried to rape her during a 2003 interview, an accusation prosecutors decided was too old to try. Strauss-Kahn denies all the allegations.

"As with his plea for diplomatic immunity, we are entirely confident this latest desperate ploy will be swiftly rejected," Diallo attorneys Kenneth W. Thompson and Douglas H. Wigdor wrote in an e-mail.

Diallo, now 33, says that when she arrived to clean Strauss-Kahn's suite, he abruptly chased her down, tried to yank down her pantyhose and forced her to perform oral sex. She says a ligament in her shoulder was torn, among other injuries.

The married Strauss-Kahn, 63, has acknowledged there was a sexual encounter and called it a "moral failing," but insisted it wasn't forced. His new filing says he and Diallo "engaged in mutually consensual sexual acts" and says she "suffered no injuries whatsoever."

At the time, Strauss-Kahn was considered a leading Socialist candidate to take on conservative incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Socialist Francois Hollande won the election last week.

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A prosecutor in France is to consider claims by two prostitutes that ousted Intermational Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was involved in a gang rape at a party in Washington, according to a French newspaper.

The paper, Liberation, reported (in French) that it was alleged that two businessmen and a senior French police officer were present during the attack in 2010, when Strauss-Kahn was being tipped to become the next French president.

Judges in France asked a French prosecutor to look into the escorts' claims and the prosecutor is due to announce next week if a further, formal investigation will take place, according to Liberation. Meantime, the New York Times reported the assault allegedly occured at a "sex party" at the W Hotel in Washington in December 2010.

Strauss-Kahn and the others have not been charged in relation to the claim, but Strauss-Kahn does face separate charges of “aggravated pimping.”

The escorts made the claims about the alleged gang rape in testimony given during the ongoing investigation of Strauss-Kahn’s involvement in an organized prostitution ring in Normandy.

The alleged assault in Washington took place during a three-day trip to the city. The two escorts had accompanied two French businessman as their secretaries, according to Liberation's report.

It alleged that one of the escorts, called "Marion," was raped by Strauss-Kahn in the presence of the three others, who she said did nothing to stop what was described as rough sex despite her vocal protests. 

Meet Monsieur Caramel Pudding, likely French president

According to excerpts of eyewitness testimony published by Liberation online, the others looked on while Strauss-Kahn "held her hands down, grabbed her hair and hurt her." The escort also alleged that one of the other men held her hands down as Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her.

The woman gave testimony in the ongoing investigation but did not press charges in relation to the Washington incident. Normally victims need to press charges for a case to be brought, but officials can decide to do so in certain cases.

The prosecutor will now decide whether to pursue the investigation to determine if there are grounds for a "group rape" charge.

NYC maid can sue
On Tuesday, a judge in New York ruled that a sexual assault lawsuit brought by hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, 33, against Strauss-Kahn could go forward to trial, rebuffing his claim that he had diplomatic immunity.

State Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon's ruling kept alive the civil case that emerged from a May 2011 hotel-room encounter that also spurred now-dismissed criminal charges against Strauss-Kahn. The episode was the first in a series of allegations about his sexual conduct that sank his political career.

The housekeeper said Strauss-Kahn, 63, tried to rape her when she arrived to clean his Manhattan hotel suite. Strauss-Kahn has denied doing anything violent during the encounter.

Prosecutors dropped the criminal charges last summer, saying they had developed doubts about Diallo's trustworthiness because she had lied about her background and her actions right after the alleged attack. Diallo has insisted she told the truth about what happened in the encounter itself.

Strauss-Kahn bundled away from Cambridge University protesters

Strauss-Kahn resigned his IMF job days after his arrest, and he didn't assert immunity from the criminal prosecution; his lawyers have said he was focused then on trying to exonerate himself. But after the lawsuit was filed, about three months later, they said he should have immunity from the civil case.

Invoking an American sports metaphor, the judge said their argument amounted to a "Hail Mary" pass, and one that raised a question of fairness.

"Strauss-Kahn cannot eschew immunity (in the criminal case) in an effort to clear his name only to embrace it now to deny Ms. Diallo the opportunity to clear hers," the judge wrote. 

NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pascal Rossignol / Reuters

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn leaves the courts in Lille after questioning by three judges over his role in a prostitution case March 26, 2012.

Updated at 4:20 a.m. ET: LILLE, France -- Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was handed preliminary charges Monday alleging he was involved in a hotel prostitution ring in France, a stunning blow for the onetime French presidential hopeful.

The investigation on suspicion of complicity in a pimping operation is the latest judicial headache for the Socialist ex-finance minister. The move could lead to a trial but it falls short of charging him.

His lawyer said the married, 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn engaged in "libertine" acts but did nothing legally wrong.

Strauss-Kahn himself left in a black sedan without speaking publicly. He was released under judicial supervision and was barred from contacting others charged in the case, a judicial official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still underway.

The Lille prosecutor's office said in a statement he was required to post 100,000 euros ($133,300) in bail. He is forbidden to contact witnesses, the press and others involved in the prostitution case, it said.

Under the spotlight
Strauss-Kahn has seen his sexual behavior scrutinized in the international spotlight over the past year. The French preliminary charges come two days before a New York court takes up a civil case in which a hotel maid accuses Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her.

The Lille case centers on allegations that a prostitution ring organized by Strauss-Kahn's business associates supplied clients at the city's Carlton Hotel.

Already in the case, eight people, including two Lille businessmen and a police commissioner, have been arrested, and construction firm Eiffage fired an executive suspected of using company funds to hire sex workers.

Strauss-Kahn investigated in French prostitution ring

Judges had the option of putting him under investigation for having potentially benefited from misappropriated company funds if he knowingly attended prostitute sessions paid for by his executive friends using expense accounts.

Instead, the case against Strauss-Kahn hinges on whether he knew he was partying with prostitutes, and whose money was used to pay them. Lawyers for the ex-IMF chief have acknowledged that he attended orgies.

In itself, using prostitutes is not illegal in France.

Prostitutes questioned in the case said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn during 2010 and 2011 at a luxury hotel in Paris, a restaurant in the French capital and also in Washington, D.C., where he lived while working for the Washington-based IMF, judicial officials say.

"Mr. Strauss-Kahn is finding himself, in large part because of his fame, thrown to the butchers," lawyer Richard Malka said. "Colossal police and judicial means were deployed to crack and dissect his private life to an infinite degree, with the only goal being to invent and then castigate what can be considered a crime of lust."

He said it was inappropriate to use "simple libertine activity" to accuse Strauss-Kahn of procuring prostitutes or involvement in organized crime.

French newspapers have dubbed the prostitution investigation "The Carlton Affair" after the name of the expensive Lille hotel where some encounters allegedly took place.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn flees student protesters

Strauss-Kahn's wife of two decades, renowned TV journalist Anne Sinclair, is now editor of the new French version of the Huffington Post website. The site carried a banner headline Monday night reading "PRELIMINARY CHARGES" over a photo of Strauss-Kahn.

The Malka suggested that the charges were politically tinged, since they came down a month before France's presidential election. Just a year ago, Strauss-Kahn, a prominent economist, had topped polls as the man most likely to win.

Strauss-Kahn quit the IMF after the New York hotel maid said he sexually assaulted her in May. The criminal charges were later dropped when prosecutors said the maid's testimony was unreliable. Strauss-Kahn said the encounter was "inappropriate" but insisted it wasn't violent.

The maid, an immigrant from Guinea, has insisted she was truthful about the encounter and is pursuing claims against Strauss-Kahn in a civil lawsuit. A hearing is set for Wednesday on Strauss-Kahn's claim that diplomatic immunity should insulate him from the lawsuit. Strauss-Kahn is not expected to attend.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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LONDON -- Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was bundled into the back of a police car to escape protesters after a speaking engagement at Britain's Cambridge University on Friday that angered women's rights activists.

About 150 demonstrators, waving banners and chanting "2, 4, 6, 8, no more violence, no more rape" had circled the Cambridge Union Society where Strauss-Kahn delivered a speech on globalization and the Eurozone to a select group of students.

As the French economist left, the angry crowd, shouting references to New York hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo who accused him of sexual assault, tried to scale barricades guarded by police and security officers set up to protect him.

Placards were thrown at the car and protesters scuffled with officers as he was whisked away.

"I don't think he should have been invited here to speak to students," student Morgan Wild, 23, told Reuters. "I think it's part of a crass PR campaign to rehabilitate his reputation and we shouldn't be taken for fools."

Strauss-Kahn calls sexual encounter with maid a 'moral failing'

"It's got nothing to do with freedom of speech," said student Francesca Williams, 21. "They're inviting a man who hates women. I don't think DSK should be given the privilege of speaking in front of a private audience."

Cambridgeshire Police said a 19-year-old man was arrested for assaulting a police officer and a woman, 22, was detained for a breach of the peace. Two others were arrested on Friday morning after banners were plastered all over the Union Society building.

The Cambridge News website displayed photos showing its walls defaced with messages including "DSK GO AWAY" and "WOMEN DESERVE BETTER."

'Flabbergasted'
There was tight security inside the venue with the gray-haired Strauss-Kahn flanked by four burly men during his speech and 25 guards brought in for the occasion.

But even within the historic 19th century building, where politicians such as British wartime leader Winston Churchill have addressed students, he was unable to escape controversy.

One student asked him to explain vaginal bruising suffered by Nafissatou Diallo, the maid behind the sexual assault allegations who is now pursuing civil claims against Strauss-Kahn in New York.

"The reality is that I spent a week in prison. There hasn't been a prosecution," he replied to a rapt audience listening over the faint shouts and sirens heard from outside.

Diallo's lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, spoke to about 100 Cambridge students and journalists on her behalf at a rival event earlier Friday.

According to the Guardian newspaper, Wigdor said he was "flabbergasted" at the invitation. He called it "an affront to all victims of sexual crimes."

"The history of Cambridge and the history of the union are now interspersed with Strauss-Kahn. I don't blame Strauss-Kahn. I blame the union," he said.

A statement posted Friday on the Cambridge union's website said the invitation was made well before Strauss-Kahn's controversial departure from the IMF. His experience in French politics mean that he was "exceptionally well qualified" to speak on the financial crisis and the French presidential election, it said.

Some of those attending the speech, many of them economics or politics students, agreed. They said they wanted to hear about Strauss-Kahn's experiences in the IMF and politics, not his personal life.

"This is a forum for free speech," said politics student Milad Matin, 21. "It's not a value judgement. I'm not endorsing rape by watching him speak."

Strauss-Kahn held in French prostitution probe

Strauss-Kahn has mostly kept a low profile since New York prosecutors dismissed charges of attempted rape and sexual assault against him in August, based on concerns about Diallo's credibility. But in recent months he has rejoined the international speech circuit.

Though the criminal case is over, the first civil court hearing over Diallo's claims is scheduled for March 28.

Strauss-Kahn was also held for two days in January in a police station in the northern French city of Lille, where investigators questioned him about allegations that a prostitution ring organized by his business acquaintances provided women for clients of Lille's Carlton Hotel.

Police want to establish whether Strauss-Kahn knew that women at parties he attended in Lille, Paris and Washington were prostitutes. His lawyer has said Strauss-Kahn had no reason to think so.

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Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.