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Stormy Daniels‘s time in the spotlight isn’t over just yet. Last night in a packed room at the Wing’s Georgetown location, Daniels, as we say, “spilled the tea” on her legal breakup with Michael Avenatti, a recent ruling by a Los Angeles judge to dismiss her lawsuit against the Trump Administration, and her now-invalid nondisclosure agreement with the President.
Stormy is in the building! Says the audience here “seems friendly” pic.twitter.com/JxMXzp2pJo
— Brittany Shepherd (@blrshepherd) March 12, 2019
The adult film actress and director (Daniels lamented that she rarely gets credit for the latter job title) told an audience of mostly women (and by my count, three cis-presenting men) that her split with Avenatti was a long time coming. When asked by journalist Jane Mulkerrins what she thought of Avenatti’s tweet earlier that day that his firm was “terminating” their representation of her, Daniel’s laughed: “How adorable is that? Michael knew I was very dissatisfied with things that pain me to not be able to share at this very moment, but trust me, he knew that I was unhappy. We all know the old trick, ‘You’re fired!’ ‘I quit, you can’t fire me.’ And I think that it was really adorable that he had his statement prepared to be on the defensive.”
You wouldn’t mistake Daniels’s chat for a Q&A at the Aspen Institute. The crowd yelled “you know it!” and cheered whenever she slammed Trump or boasted about her successes. The actress fed off their energy in return. While avoiding specifics, Daniels teased that her new lawyer Clark Brewster was prepping for more legal action, even if she didn’t go into specifics.
“My new attorney says things are about to get real interesting,” Daniels said. “Sit tight ladies,” she added, it’s about to get real fucking good.”
Daniels’s talk included jabs at Michael Cohen, a man she clearly doesn’t view as a hero: “I read online that Michael Cohen’s dumb ass—we all know what kind of rocket scientist he is—was shopping a book and the pitch for the fucking book.” Oh, she wants to visit Cohen in prison, too, she said, for “shits and giggles.”
Last night’s speech marked her first public appearance since an LA judge threw out her suit—but don’t tell Stormy she was on the losing side. She, in fact, sees it as a triumph.
“I see it as a victory because I wanted the NDA to be ruled invalid. My main goal was not to write [Trump] a $20 million check. Cause first of all, where am I going to get $20 million? Even I can’t suck that much dick.” (There was, to no surprise, a lot more talk about sex. Both sex she’s had and the porn industry at large. For those not wanting to get too shocked in a morning newsletter, head to my Twitter thread, where I pulled some highlights.) All in all, while she’s not sure if she regrets becoming a public figure (ask her again in a few years, she says) she feels that she’s actualized most of her goals.
“All I ever wanted was to not get sued for $ 20 million and stand up for myself. And I did that.”
In lighter, brighter news, Mitt Romney celebrated his 72nd birthday in idiosyncratic style. When presented with a birthday cake made from Twinkies (his favorite snack) he pulled the candles off individually and blew them out. Germaphobe or otherworldly being being trying to blend in?
I’m your author, Brittany Shepherd. Email me at bshepherd@washingtonian.com and follow me on Twitter. Will Peischel (wpeischel@washingtonian.com) contributed reporting today. Please subscribe to this newsletter and we’ll promise never to spit on your side of the Twinkie birthday cake.
Wondering how the Washington Post will fare after the apocalypse? Apparently, its building will stick around. At least the designers of the highly anticipated video game the Division 2, which is set in DC, think so.
What’s on our mind: Rich people have been conspiring against us regulars according to the feds, which charged more than 50 people in its investigation of a scheme that it says helped overprivileged and underperforming students into top universities including Georgetown. (What rocks now, Hoyas?) A dozen applicants got spaces on the Georgetown tennis team after their parents’ money allegedly greased the coach, who separately also helped Sasha, Malia and Michelle Obama sharpen their court skills.
What we have cooking at Washingtonian:
- You probably don’t need to cancel your Boeing 767 Max 8 flight.
- Esports is a thing now! And it’s now a theme for the summer’s pop up bar.
- Order the whole duck when you go out. Trust us.
Our pick for things to do around town:
BEER Ohio brewery Jackie O’s is finally on tap in DC at ChurchKey, where 17 different beers will be available on draft or in bottles. The event will highlight three different barrel-aged stouts: Bourbon Barrel Oil of Aphrodite (an imperial stout with walnuts), Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Coffee Dark Apparition (a stout with coffee and vanilla), and Port Barrel Dark Apparition. Those who aren’t interested in dark beers will still find plenty to try, such as the saison Pockets of Sunlight, the IPA Mystic Mama, and the berliner weisse Perpetum. Free to attend (beer prices vary), 4 PM.
Good reads:
Is Justin Amash the loneliest man in Congress? (CNN)
Big events from Washingtonian:
Do you really love the drip coffee from Swings? Adore the sweets at District Doughnut? Our annual readers poll is now live–take it and let us know your favorite things in Washington. You could win two tickets to our fabulous Best of Washington party in June.
Brittany Shepherd covers the societal and cultural scene in political Washington. Before joining Washingtonian as a staff writer in 2018, Brittany was a White House Correspondent for Independent Journal Review. While she has lived in DC for a number of years now, she still yearns for the fresh Long Island bagels of home. Find her on Twitter, often prattling on about Frasier.
