Stormy Daniels skipped the red carpet Friday but took the stage briefly after a screening of documentary Stormy, which had its SXSW premiere on the festival’s opening night. She was emotional, wiping away tears, as she hugged the director, Sarah Gibson, and talked about why the film means so much to her. But she also showed her usual defiance by ending with a bold statement: “And F*ck Trump.”
“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 on 18th March 18 2024.
“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 got 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 tells the story of a former adult movie star who had her life changed when she got involved with Donald Trump. She said — as did Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen — that he paid her $130,000 to stay quiet about an affair. Since the payout came in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, some called it election fraud. The Manhattan District Attorney is currently preparing for trial in its hush money case against Trump.
When existence of the payments were revealed Trump called Daniels a liar. She took him to court for saying that, but she lost and ending up on the hook for $300,000 to cover his legal expenses. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, who had been supporting her, ended up betraying her. He was found guilty of, wire fraud and identity theft after stealing book-contract proceeds from Daniels by forging her signature on a letter to her agent was sent to jail for four years in 2022.
