‘I have no reason to lie’
The chances are that you will have heard of Stormy Daniels - especially in recent weeks.
The 39-year-old adult film star (real name: Stephanie Clifford) made headlines earlier this year when she came out and alleged that she had an affair with President Donald Trump in 2006.
While Trump has denied the reports and Daniels has yet to give evidence, the whole world is talking about what may or may not have happened in his hotel suite during a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe - especially given her comments over the weekend.
Daniels appeared in a ‘60 Minutes’ CBS TV interview on Sunday where she was interviewed in detail by Anderson Cooper about the alleged affair.
Risking a pretty big fine, she violated a reported $130,000 gag agreement, describing what she has stated was the one time she and the now president had sex.
But what happened? Well, according to Daniels, aside from the obvious, a spanking for Trump with a rolled up magazine, her being compared to his daughter Ivanka Trump and a suggestion that she go on Celebrity Apprentice.
‘He was like, “Wow, you - you are special”’ she recalled. ‘“You remind me of my daughter.” You know he was like, “You're smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you.”’
And according to Daniels, it’s not the first time she has spoken out, allegedly agreeing to tell her story to a publication in 2011 for $15,000. But the piece went unpublished after she was reportedly physically threatened to stay silent in a car park with her young daughter on her way to an exercise class.
During the CBS interview, Daniels recalled: ‘A guy walked up to me and said to me, “Leave Trump alone, forget the story” and then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said “That’s a beautiful little girl - it would be a shame if something happened to her mom” and then he was gone.’
She continued: ‘I was rattled. I remember going into the workout class. And my hands were shaking so much, I was afraid I was going to drop her.’
News of the alleged affair broke in the Wall Street Journal in January, with even Daniels denying the story at the time. She has since gone on to explain that she had lied, feeling pressured to sign a statement that denied the relationship by his attorney, Cohen.
‘I just quickly said yes to this very strict contract,’ she explained in the interview. ‘I felt intimidated and honestly bullied, and I honestly didn’t know what to do. And so I signed it.’
‘They made it sound like I had no choice,’ she recalled, afraid that she would face legal repercussions. ‘As a matter of fact, the exact sentence used was, “They can make your life hell in many different ways.”’
According to CNN, Trump’s attorney, Cohen, is claiming defamation, demanding a stop to ‘false and defamatory’ statements about him and asking for a retraction and apology.
Stormy Daniels is yet to give evidence of the affair, and when asked for proof, she answered ‘I can't answer that right now’.
The White House has denied that the affair happened.
