Though embattled lawyer Michael Avenatti is currently facing charges that he bilked AVN Hall of Famer out of nearly $300,000 in advance royalties for her 2018 memoir Full Disclosure, as AVN.com reported, Avenatti on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Daniels. In the suit, Avenatti wants Daniels to fork over what he says are millions in unpaid legal fees.
The lawsuit was first reported by the Daily Beast on Thursday, which said that in the suit, Avenatti claims that because Daniels considers herself “a celebrity,” she believes that she is “entitled to free legal services and costs.”
Avenatti in the lawsuit, as reported by the Daily Beast, says that in spite of his “repeated demands that Ms. Daniels fulfill her contractual obligations and pay for the millions in legal fees and costs she has enjoyed for her benefit over the last approximate 19 months, including in this case, she has refused.”
Avenatti and Daniels shot to national fame seemingly overnight in March of 2018 when they filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and his then-lawyer and “fixer” over a “hush agreement” Daniels signed in 2016, in exchange for a $130,000 payoff to keep her mouth shut over a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
But after a year of seemingly non-stop media appearances by Avenatti, and Daniels’ rise to a degree of mainstream celebrity as well, the pair had a falling out. Daniels fired Avenatti and hired Oklahoma litigator Clark Brewster in his place, as AVN.com reported.
Avenatti has since faced a blizzard of criminal charges, most revolving around allegations that he cheated multiple clients out of cash that was rightfully theirs, in order to support his jet-setting, luxurious lifestyle. Daniels was one of those clients, with prosecutors charging that Avenatti fraudulently diverted almost $300,000 in Daniels’ advance royalties into his own personal bank account.
But Avenatti now charges that in addition to refusing to pay him, Daniels has attempted to smear him in the press and online, according to the Daily Beast report.
“Mr. Avenatti did an enormous amount of high-quality legal work for Ms. Daniels under intense pressure and scrutiny,” Avenatti’s lawyer, Tom Warren, told the Daily Beast. He made significant personal sacrifices for her benefit. He deserves to be paid by her, not criticized.”
In the lawsuit, however, Avenatti admits that the agreement he signed with Daniels in February of 2018 required only that she make a “$100 up-front payment,” which he acknowledges she did, in fact, pay. Avenatti has said in earlier interviews, according to the Daily Beast, that money raised from a “legal fund” would go to cover his costs and fees associated with representing Daniels.
Avenatti’s basis, therefore, for claiming that Daniels owes him “millions” remains unclear.
Above, Stormy Daniels and Michael Avenatti on the red carpet at the 2019 AVN Awards. Photo by Jeff Koga.
