Stephanie Gregory Clifford (born March 17, 1979), known professionally as Stormy Daniels, is an American

pornographic film actress A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dis ...

and director, and former

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. ...

. She has won numerous industry awards, and is a member of the

NightMoves ''Nightmoves'' is a 2007 jazz album by vocalist Kurt Elling. It was the first Elling album to be released by Concord Records. Track listing # "Nightmoves" ( Michael Franks, Michael Small) - 4:23 # "Tight" (Betty Carter) - 2:55 # "Change Partn ...

, AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame. In 2009, a recruitment effort led her to consider challenging incumbent

David Vitter David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. ...

for the 2010 Senate election in her native

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

. In 2018, Daniels became involved in a legal dispute with U.S. president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

and his attorney Michael Cohen. Trump and his surrogates paid $130,000

hush money Hush money is a term for an arrangement in which one person or party offers another an attractive sum of money or other enticement, in exchange for remaining silent about some illegal, stigmatized, or shameful behavior, action, or other fact abo ...

to silence Daniels about an

affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

she says she had with Trump in 2006. Trump's spokespeople have denied the affair and accused Daniels of lying.

Early life

Daniels' parents, Sheila and Bill Gregory, divorced about three or four years after she was born. She was then raised by her mother. She graduated from Scotlandville Magnet High School in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counti ...

in 1997 and considered becoming a journalist. Daniels said she "came from an average, lower-income household… there eredays without electricity", and she has described herself as coming from a "really bad neighborhood." During high school, Daniels had a job answering phones at a riding stable.

Career

Daniels's first experience as a

occurred when she was 17 and visiting a friend at a strip club; she was convinced to perform a "guest set". She began stripping for money at the Gold Club in Baton Rouge and became a featured entertainer with Continental Theatrical Agency in September 2000. She chose her stage name Stormy Daniels to reflect her love of American rock band

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albu ...

, whose bassist,

Nikki Sixx Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a me ...

, named his daughter Storm. In 2004, Daniels won the Best New Starlet Award from '' Adult Video News'', which was a surprise to Daniels, who had made a $500 bet with another actress that

Jesse Jane Cindy Taylor (born July 16, 1980) is an American retired pornographic actress and model best known by her stage name Jesse Jane. She is the recipient of numerous awards and nominations over her career in the adult industry, including induction i ...

would win. She has directed for Wicked since 2004. Daniels has appeared with performers such as Randy Spears, Julian and

Brendon Miller Brendon Miller (born Glendon Crain; August 30, 1976) is an American pornographic actor and musician. Career Music Prior to his career as a pornographic actor, Miller was a drummer for several bands. He began his music career with The Feds, wit ...

, to whom she was married and who edited about half of her movies. Daniels was inducted into the

AVN Hall of Fame The ''AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') Hall of Fame has honored people for their work in the adult entertainment industry since 1995. and was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame on April 16, 2014. Her directorial work that year earned fourteen AVN Award nominations including a nomination for Best Safe Sex Scene for her performance with Brendon Miller in François Clousot's ''First Crush''. In 2018, Daniels toured strip clubs as part of a "Make America Horny Again" tour. She was given the key to the city of

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages in ...

, on "Stormy Daniels Day", May 23, 2018. Daniels was named to host the 2019

XBIZ Awards XBIZ Awards are given annually to honour "individuals, companies, performers and products that play an essential part in the growth and success of adult films" and have been described by XBIZ publisher and founder Alec Helmy as being "born out o ...

Mainstream appearances

United States

Daniels appeared in an episode of '' Real Sex'' where she is seen participating in 2001 Miss Nude Great Plains Contest. She appeared in ''

Pornucopia ''Pornucopia'' is an American documentary series by HBO spin off from ''Real Sex'' that focuses on the Californian porn industry. It featured interviews with Jenna Jameson, Jenna Haze, Katie Morgan, Dave Cummings, Evan Stone, Jeff Stryker, Stor ...

'' in 2004. In early 2007, she appeared in '' Dirt'' on the

FX Network FX is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content unit of The Walt Disney Company. It is based at the Fox Studios lot in Century City, California. FX originally launch ...

, where she played a stripper who helps to set up a basketball player played by Rick Fox. Later in 2007, Daniels appeared in

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

's music video for their song " Wake Up Call" as a pole dancer. She appears in the film '' The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' (2005), when the main character (

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

) watches her in the video ''Space Nuts: Episode 69—Unholy Union'' and then tries dreaming about her. She appears in the film '' Knocked Up'' (2007) as a lap dancer. She appeared on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' as herself on May 5, 2018. She appeared as a model in artist Nika Nesgoda's 2002 photographic series ''Virgin'', portraying the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

''Celebrity Big Brother''

In 2018, there was wide speculation that Daniels would be a housemate on '' Celebrity Big Brother 22'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Despite the reports, Daniels did not enter the house on launch night. Speculation about her absence included demands for more money, a legal affair involving her husband, and a desire to spend time with her daughter. Her attorney Michael Avenatti told the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

that Daniels was in fact set to enter the house, but producers attempted to manipulate her into acting a certain way. A ''Big Brother'' statement read: "Stormy Daniels was booked to appear on the show several months ago and hours before the show was due to go live, informed the production team that she no longer wished to enter the house as previously agreed. Producers discussed a variety of options with her but were unable to agree any acceptable conditions for her entering the house. Our focus is now on making a brilliant series with our fantastic celebrities." Daniels said that she offered to appear on the show during the live launch to explain her absence, but was turned down by producers. On the August 17 edition of spin-off show ''

Big Brother's Bit on the Side This is a complete list of shows about and relating to ''Big Brother UK'' and ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The civilian edition ran from 2000 to 2018 and the celebrity edition ran from 2001 to 2018. ''Big Brother'' ''Big Brother'' was a daily sho ...

'', host Rylan Clark-Neal explained that just five hours before the first live show, Daniels said she only wanted to appear on launch night and then leave. ''Big Brother'' tried to negotiate a compromise, but nothing came of it. Clark-Neal also insisted that money was not a factor and there was no attempt from producers to try to manipulate her to achieve a specific outcome.

Politics

A group of fans attempted to recruit Daniels to run against Republican

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in Louisiana in 2010. The recruitment process was centered around the website DraftStormy.com. On May 21, 2009, she formed an exploratory committee, initially inspired by revelations about "Vitter's connections to a prostitution ring". In August 2009, her campaign manager's car was blown up, although no one was in the car at that time. In April 2010, Daniels finally declared herself a Republican candidate. Her decision was inspired by disclosures that the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in ...

(RNC) had paid expenses for fundraisers at a "lesbian bondage themed nightclub" in Los Angeles, stating that the revelations "finally tipped the scales". She explained that the RNC's use of party funds for sex convinced her that Republicans represented her

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

values best: Daniels said she has been a registered Democrat throughout her life, "But now I cannot help but recognize that over time my libertarian values regarding both money and sex and the legal use of one for the other is now best espoused by the Republican Party." She made several listening tours around Louisiana to focus on the economy, as well as women in business and child protection and stated that if elected, she would likely retire from the adult industry. On April 15, 2010, she announced that she would not be running for Senate, saying she could not afford a run for the Senate seat and stating that the media never took her candidacy seriously.

Personal life

Daniels lives in

Forney, Texas Forney is a city in Kaufman County, Texas, United States, and has been named by the Texas Legislature as the "Antique Capital of Texas". It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 14,661 at the 2010 census, up from 5,58 ...

. Daniels was married to Pat Myne from 2003 to 2005, and took his legal surname ''Clifford''. She was married to Michael Mosny (screen name ''Mike Moz'') from 2007 to 2009. She was arrested in July 2009 pertaining to a domestic violence charge by Mosny. She married Glendon Crain in 2010; they have a daughter. Crain filed for divorce in July 2018. Daniels has been fond of horses her entire life; she owns several and has won multiple blue ribbons at equestrian events. In 2019, Daniels came out as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

Legal affairs

Trump affair allegations

In October 2016, shortly before the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

's personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in

to deny that she had an affair with Trump a decade earlier in 2006. Trump's spokespeople have denied the affair and accused Daniels of lying. On behalf of his client, Cohen denied the existence of an affair between Trump and Daniels, but he later stated: "In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford." On March 6, 2018, Daniels filed a lawsuit against Trump. She said that the

non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wis ...

that she had signed in reference to the alleged affair was invalid because Trump had never personally signed it. The suit also alleges that Trump's attorney had been trying to intimidate Daniels and "scare her into not talking". A day later, Cohen initiated an ex parte arbitration process which resulted in an order that barred Daniels from disclosing "confidential information" related to the non-disclosure agreement. The order itself, which Daniels' lawyers called bogus, was supposed to remain confidential. In a March 25, 2018, interview with ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

'', Daniels said that she and Trump had sex once, and that later she had been threatened in front of her infant daughter and felt pressured to later sign a non-disclosure agreement. Includes video and transcript. On April 9, 2018, FBI agents raided Cohen's office and seized emails, tax documents and business records relating to several matters, including payments to Daniels. On April 30, 2018, Daniels filed a lawsuit against Trump on

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...

charges because he called her statements "fraud". It related to Trump's statements on Twitter saying that Daniels had invented the story of the man who threatened her after she decided to tell journalists about their affair. In October 2018, the suit was dismissed on

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

grounds, and Daniels lost her appeal in August 2020. In August 2018, Cohen reached a plea deal with prosecutors, saying he paid off Daniels "at the direction of the ... candidate" and "for the principal purpose of influencing the election". In September 2018, Cohen offered to invalidate the non-disclosure agreement with Daniels if she would refund the $130,000 Cohen's company paid to her. Lawyers for Trump have declared that Trump will neither enforce the non-disclosure agreement nor contest Daniels' claim that it is invalid.

Columbus, Ohio arrest

On July 12, 2018, Daniels was arrested in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, by undercover vice cops in a sting operation. Authorities accused her of "fondling" patrons and police officers in violation of Ohio strip club law. While Daniels was booked into the county jail, two other female adult entertainers who were arrested at the club for the same alleged violations were given summonses to appear in court and (unlike Daniels) did not have their mugshots taken. Daniels retained Columbus defense lawyer Chase Mallory, who worked with prosecutors to dismiss the charges less than 12 hours later, saying that the law did not apply to out-of-town performers. Daniels' personal attorney, Michael Avenatti, vowed to sue the local police on the grounds that the arrest was politically motivated. It was later revealed that the lead detective on the vice squad in charge of the arrest was a supporter of Donald Trump. Emails belonging to another vice squad detective who made the arrest reportedly showed that days before Daniels arrived in Columbus, the detective had already obtained pictures/videos of Daniels and the location of her planned performance. A day after the arrest, the Columbus police chief declared that "a mistake was made" during the arrest, as "one element of the law was missed in error." In January 2019, Daniels filed suit in federal court against the City of Columbus, alleging police were politically motivated when they arrested her and seeking $2 million in damages. In March 2019, an internal police investigation found that Daniels' arrest by the four undercover officers was improper, but not premeditated or political in nature. In August 2019, Columbus Division of Police interim chief Tom Quinlan announced that five Columbus police officers faced departmental punishment for their roles in the arrest for violating rules of conduct. In September 2019, the parties agreed to settle the federal lawsuit, with Daniels receiving $450,000 in compensation.

Awards

;As a performer ;As a director ;Hall of Fame

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Stormy 1979 births Actresses from Baton Rouge, Louisiana American libertarians American female erotic dancers American pornographic film actresses American pornographic film directors Bisexual pornographic film actresses LGBT people from Louisiana Living people Louisiana Republicans Penthouse Pets Pornographic film actors from Louisiana Women pornographic film directors 21st-century American actresses