Stormy Daniels

Biography

Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford (born Stephanie A. Gregory; March 17, 1979), known professionally as Stormy Daniels, is an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. She has won many industry awards and is a member of the NightMoves Hall of Fame, AVN Hall of Fame, XRCO Hall of Fame, and Vanity Fair Hall of Fame. Daniels became involved in a legal dispute with U.S. president Donald Trump in 2018. Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid $130,000 in hush money to silence her about an affair she says she had with Trump in 2006. Trump denied the affair and accused her of lying. He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to Daniels, and was convicted on May 30, 2024.

== Early life == Daniels's 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, Louisiana, in 1997 and considered becoming a journalist. Daniels said she "came from an average, lower-income household… there [were] days 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 stripper 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, whose bassist, Nikki Sixx, named his daughter Storm, and that her father considered naming her Stormy before her mother's choice of Stephanie. According to Daniels, her career as a pornographic actress started in 2002 with scenes for Sin City and Wicked Pictures. In 2004, Daniels won the Best New Starlet Award from Adult Video News, which was a surprise to Daniels herself, who had made a $500 bet with another actress that Jesse Jane would win. She has directed for Wicked since 2004. Daniels has appeared with performers such as Randy Spears, Julian and Brendon Miller, to whom she was married and who edited about half of her movies. Daniels was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame on January 18, 2014, and was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame on April 16, 2014. Her directorial work that year earned 14 AVN Award nominations including a nomination for Best Safe Sex Scene for her performance with Brendon Miller in François Clousot's First Crush. Daniels toured strip clubs as part of a 2018 "Make America Horny Again" tour. She was given the key to the city of West Hollywood, California, on "Stormy Daniels Day", May 23, 2018. Daniels was named to host the 2019 XBIZ Awards.

=== Mainstream appearances ===

==== United States ==== Daniels also appeared in erotic films, such as The Witches of Breastwick (2005), and other non-pornographic productions. Daniels appeared in an episode of Real Sex where she is seen participating in 2001 Miss Nude Great Plains Contest. She appeared in Pornucopia in 2004. In early 2007, she appeared in Dirt on the FX Network, 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's music video for their song "Wake Up Call" as a pole dancer. In 2009, she appeared in one episode of Party Down, where she played a pornographic actress. The actress appears in the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), when the main character (played by Steve Carell) 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. Daniels appeared on Saturday Night Live in the cold open as herself on May 5, 2018. She appeared as a model in artist Nika Nesgoda's 2002 photographic series Virgin, portraying the Virgin Mary. In 2020, she appeared as a guest on The Eric Andre Show.

==== Celebrity Big Brother ==== In 2018, there was wide speculation that Daniels would be a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother 22 in the United Kingdom. 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 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, host Rylan Clark 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 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 David Vitter 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. Daniels finally declared herself a Republican candidate on April 6, 2010. Her decision was inspired by disclosures that the Republican National Committee (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 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 run, due to the unaffordable cost and media not taking her candidacy seriously.