Stormy Daniels: The porn star who took centre stage at Trump’s hush money trial
Stormy Daniels had of retreating into a life of quiet domesticity with her fourth husband, fellow adult film performer Barrett Blade, and their horses on a ranch in Florida have evaporated.
Donald Trump has been found guilty by a Manhattan grand jury over a $130,000 (£105,000) hush money payment to the porn star, throwing the 2024 election into uncharted territory.
After being found guilty on all 34 counts, Mr. Trump, 77, has become the first former president to be convicted of a felony.
Due to his convictions, he might potentially spend time in jail. His sentencing is scheduled for July 11, which is four days prior to the Republican National Convention, which is when he is expected to accept the party’s presidential nomination.
Mr. Trump blasted Juan Merchan, the case’s supervisor, and denied ever having sex with either woman or knowing about the hush money.
He declared, “This was a rigged disgraceful trial,” after the decision. “We didn’t make any mistakes. I’m a really innocent individual, and right now, the entire nation is being manipulated.
Additionally, it has brought Ms. Daniels’s story of that fatal July 2006 night back into the public eye.
who is stormy daniels?
Ms. Daniels began her career as a dancer in her hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when as a 17-year-old she visited a strip club and was persuaded to perform a “guest set”.
She subsequently told the New York Times, “I made enough money on two songs to make more than I did all week answering phones at the riding stable that I worked at.”
She started doing headline performances around the state while working 11-hour shifts till the wee hours of the morning. After a few years, she transitioned to the pornographic industry, first as an actress and later as a writer and director.
According to reports, Ms. Daniels was a strict supervisor who would fire underachievers and once insisted that one actor change his “dumb” stage name.
She also acted in mainstream movies, such as Knocked Up and the 2000 romantic comedy The 40-year-old Virgin.
Her two feature directors, Judd Apatow and Michael Gordon, remembered her as a “very serious businesswoman and a filmmaker.” “She is not someone to be underestimated,” he continued.
Ms. Daniels openly considered a 2009 US Senate bid in Louisiana following the embarrassment of the sitting senator in a prostitute scandal.
She identified as a Republican and informed reporters that “Screwing People Honestly” would be her campaign motto. Later on, she disqualified herself from the race.
the Golf course encounter
Subsequently, the 60-year-old, a colorful businessman and reality TV personality on NBC’s popular program The Apprentice, got to know the 27-year-old stormy daniels during a celebrity golf event in Nevada. He had gone there by himself, leaving his third wife, Melania, and their infant son, Barron, behind.
Later that day, Mr. Trump and Ms. Daniels ran into each other again in the gift shop, and they were pictured together at the booth for her nude company, Wicked Pictures.
She accepted his invitation to supper in his opulent penthouse room at the Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Hotel and Casino. He was dressed in black silk pajamas and slippers, while Ms. Daniels showed up in a revealing gold dress and stiletto heels, according to her.
He said he could get her an audition for The Apprentice. “To try to sleep with you, just to impress you?” a reporter from In Touch Weekly magazine would subsequently inquire. Yes, Ms. Daniels answered. “And I suppose it succeeded.”
in summary
She has stated that they then shared a bed. She claimed he kept phoning her, referring to her as his “honeybunch,” and although they met each other a few more times, they never shared a bed.
And if Mr. Trump hadn’t decided to withdraw his ultimately futile presidential bid in 2011, that might have been the case. Kiss-and-tell conversation
When Trump fixer Michael Cohen learned that Ms. Daniels had given an interview to In Touch Weekly about that evening for $15,000, he threatened to sue the publication.
She didn’t get compensated, and the piece didn’t get published. She made another attempt to market the tale in 2016. The stakes were higher this time because Mr. Trump was very likely to win the election.
Once more intervening to kill the article, Mr. Cohen offered her $130,000 in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement.
Ms Daniels signed her copy on the trunk of a car near a porn set in California. Mr Cohen signed on Mr Trump’s behalf.
After some delay, Mr Cohen eventually used his own money to pay her, an act that would later land him in jail.
But Mr Trump is alleged to have both instructed the payoff and signed checks to reimburse Mr Cohen after he was in the White House.
In the end, the money was wasted.
