How scandal-fatigued is Washington? Consider this: Stormy Daniels—yes, that Stormy Daniels, the porn star who says she had an affair with Donald Trump, and is suing him for the right to talk about it—is coming to perform her striptease in Washington, less than a mile from the White House front-door. And she hasn’t yet managed to sell it out.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has booked four shows over July 9 and 10 at Cloakroom, a K Street strip club. Not only are $3,500 VIP sky boxes stocked with Champagne, truffle popcorn, and—of course, because how could any marketer resist—a round of Dark & Stormy shooters still available, but so are $50 bar stool seats.
The “exclusive” performance is billed All Things Revealed, an entendre alluding to the NDA that limited Daniels’ freedom to actually reveal details of her alleged relationship with Trump. It’s marketing engineered to pique a news-obsessed Washington crowd. In other cities, Daniels has been purposefully less political, even scribbling over the tagline “Make America Horny Again” on promos she posts to social media.
But for all the interest Daniels inspires in Washington, it’s still a buttoned-up town. Perhaps the desire to see things revealed can’t be overwhelmed by the fear of being seen watching. Or maybe it’s just another sign of the times. At one point, adding hush money and lawsuits to a presidential sex scandal would have gripped our attention with the unnatural might of extended release Adderall.
Not any more. As evidence of how far the prospect of a Stormy sighting has drifted from consciousness, look no further than Daniels’ own right-hand man: even her publicity-hungry lawyer, Michael Avenatti, confirms he’s not coming to town for the free media circus.
Amanda has contributed to Washingtonian since 2016. She has written about the right-wing media personality Britt McHenry, chronicled her night with Stormy Daniels, and come clean about owning too much stuff. She lives on H Street. She can be reached at [email protected].
