It has come to light that Stormy Daniels recently skipped the red carpet Friday. However, she took the stage briefly after a screening of documentary Stormy, which had its SXSW premiere on the festival’s opening night.
She was caught being emotional, often wiping away tears, as she embraced director Sarah Gibson and talked about how important the film is to her. However, she displayed her trademark defiance too, closing with a parting shot — “And f*ck Trump” via Deadline.
“Thank you Sarah for doing this with me and telling such a great story,” she said. “As a filmmaker, your transitions were amazing. And you didn’t use too many shots that made me look fat. So thank you.”
Judd Apatow is an executive producer for the film, which premieres on Peacock later this month.
“I met Judd, I think it was 2004. And not very many people know this story, but I stood in line and auditioned for a bit part in a movie called The 40-Year Old Virgin.” She bagged the role but had death in the family so didn’t get to to set.
“I expected them to replace me, and instead of doing so Judd Apatow rearranged his entire shoot schedule and sent flowers” to the funeral.
Apatow, who did speak briefly before the screening, said it’s important to realize that there are “real people” behind the clickbait.
The documentary centers on a former adult film star whose life was turned upside down when she got involved with Donald Trump. She claimed that Trump paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about an affair, and so did Michael Cohen, his former fixer. Some referred to the transaction as electoral fraud because it occurred just before the 2016 presidential election. Presently, the Manhattan District Attorney is getting ready for Trump’s hush money trial.
When the payments’ existence was made public, Trump accused Daniels of being a liar. After losing her defamation lawsuit, she was forced to pay $300,000 to cover his legal costs.
The lawyer who took up her case initially and defended her up and down cable news, Michael Avenatti, was condemned of defrauding her and in 2022 was sentenced to four years in prison for wire fraud and identity theft after stealing book-contract proceeds from Daniels by forging her signature on a letter to her agent.
