Porn star Stormy Daniels detailed how her former attorney, Michael Avenatti, allegedly stole hundreds of thousands in book advance money from her – and lied to her about the missing funds almost every day for five months at his trial Thursday.
Daniels, wearing a black dress, a red sweater and black high heels, took the stand at Avenatti’s criminal trial in Manhattan federal court – and walked jurors through a series of text messages and documents that showed her communication with her former attorney as she navigated a six-figure book deal in 2018.
“He stole from me and lied to me,” she told jurors at the beginning of her testimony.
Daniels recalled how she received a first payment of $250,000 from St. Martin’s Press in April 2018 after she inked a book deal with the publishing company for her then-forthcoming book, “Full Disclosure.”
The adult entertainer was so elated by the payment that she called Avenatti, who assured her he would not touch any of the money that she received through the book deal.
“He told me ‘congrats,’ ” she said. “He said I deserved it. I’m an American hero. ‘I love you Stormy Daniels,’ ” she said.
She added that Avenatti told her “he would neve take a penny from me for the book.”
In the following months, Daniels was due to collect three more payments that would total some $800,000, according to the contract she signed with the publishing company.
But as the months wore on, Daniels did not receive the cash on time and she complained repeatedly to Avenatti about her lack of payment.
“I did not get paid today. I am not f–king happy,” she said in one of the messages about a month after she was due to receive another payment that had not shown up.
“The publisher owes me a payment … This is bulls–t,” she wrote in another.
Eventually, Daniels went around Avenatti and connected with her literary agent and his secretary, who showed her documents that revealed funds had been paid by the publishing house for her book.
The money was deposited into an account that Avenatti controlled and Daniels had no knowledge of, the feds allege.
“He lied to me almost every day for five months,” Daniels said of Avenatti, adding that she was beyond furious when she realized he had allegedly taken her money.
Avenatti, who is representing himself, briefly questioned Daniels in cross examination before the trial broke for the day Thursday afternoon.
He quizzed Daniels on statements she made about her ability to speak to dead people and a doll as part of her role on a television show called “Spooky Babes.”
Avenatti and Daniels gained national notoriety in the months that followed after she sued Trump in California in an effort to be released from a non-disclosure agreement.
Days before the 2016 election, ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 for her silence about a sexual encounter she had with Trump years earlier.
Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.
Cohen served time in federal prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion, lying to Congress and other charges.