V:While Donald Trump’s historic appearance in a New York courtroom on criminal charges may have been a dark day for the former president, his arrest has been a boon for his tormentor Stormy Daniels.
The adult actress, who is a central figure in the cash payments that led to 34 falsification charges against Mr Trump, has used it to cash in on her growing celebrity.
Mr Trump appeared grim-faced as he faced a judge and pleaded guilty to the charges he now faces, while Ms Daniels took full advantage of the free publicity she got.
Donald Trump vs. Stormy Daniels. the story so far
Prosecutors say Mr. Trump paid Ms. Daniels to keep her alleged 2006 sexual relationship from going public in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
Now, searches for Ms. Daniels on adult video site Pornhub have skyrocketed since the criminal case against Mr. Trump began. Its views on the site peaked at 631,254 on March 31, the day after Mr. Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury, according to TMZ.
And Pornhub told TMZ that site users searched for “Stormy” more than 650,000 times on Tuesday. That’s a 32,400 percent increase from its average in the first three months of 2023, the entertainment website said.
Ms. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has also seen an increase in merchandise she sells on her own website, which includes signed calendars for $25, signed nude photos for $20 and T-shirts emblazoned with the #TeamStormy logo.
Ms. Daniels, 44, was also interviewed by the fashion magazine Vogue: The weekend after the indictment was announced at his Florida home, the article was published on the day Mr Trump appeared in court.
“My name is in the news again, so the sales of my products have increased. it’s natural, but the way it’s talked about is, like, I’m doing a marketing campaign,” she told the magazine.
“At the same time, He is raising millions of dollars for his campaign there…”
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has also been fundraising in the wake of his arrest, telling supporters they could buy a T-shirt with a $47 donation and a fake picture on it.
“This Witch Hunt will be a MASSIVE BACKLASH,” he said in the letter. “With your support, we will write the next great chapter in American history, and 2024 will forever be remembered as the year we saved our Republic.”
Mrs. Daniels said Vogue: that he has faced death threats since Mr. Trump was indicted last week.
But despite the backlash, he hopes Mr Trump will “get what’s coming”.
“For my own sake I’d like an apology, I’d like him to get what’s coming for once,” he said.
“But it’s about me and there are other things that are more about the country, for example,” he added, referring to other investigations into the former president.
Meanwhile, Ms. Daniels was ordered to pay Mr. Trump $120,000 on the same day she appeared in court.
In a California courtroom 3,000 miles away from a Manhattan criminal court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the adult film star to pay more than $121,000 in legal fees.
The payments come on top of more than $500,000 he previously ordered to pay Mr Trump.
It comes after Ms Daniels lost a defamation suit against the former president in 2018 after he described her claims that she was threatened by an unidentified man over their alleged affair in a car park as a “total hoax”.
Ms Daniels was candid about her feelings when she posted an x-ray tweet about Mr Trump as he appeared in court.
In a tweet, Ms Daniels quoted a derogatory phrase that her detractors had called her online.
“It’s definitely more fun to be under my sex man than in custody,” she added moments after the former president was brought into a New York courtroom to face a judge.
And in another tweet, he described former first lady Melania Trump as “the only pet Tiny has,” using his preferred nickname for the former president.
He also tweeted that the nickname also refers to “his IQ, integrity, hands, etc.”