Stormy Daniels

Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford (born Stephanie A. Gregory; March 17, 1979), known professionally as Stormy Daniels, is an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. She has won many industry awards and is a member of the NightMoves Hall of Fame, AVN Hall of Fame, XRCO Hall of Fame, and Vanity Fair Hall of Fame. In 2009, a recruitment effort led her to consider challenging incumbent David Vitter in the 2010 Senate election in her native Louisiana.

Daniels became involved in a legal dispute with U.S. president Donald Trump in 2018. Trump's attorney Michael Cohen paid $130,000 in hush money to silence her about an affair she says she had with Trump in 2006. Trump denied the affair and accused her of lying. He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to Daniels, and was convicted on May 30, 2024.

Daniels's parents, Sheila and Bill Gregory, divorced about three or four years after she was born. She was then raised by her mother.

She graduated from Scotlandville Magnet High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1997 and considered becoming a journalist.

Daniels said she "came from an average, lower-income household… there [were] days without electricity", and she has described herself as coming from a "really bad neighborhood." During high school, Daniels had a job answering phones at a riding stable.

Daniels's first experience as a stripper occurred when she was 17 and visiting a friend at a strip club; she was convinced to perform a "guest set". She began stripping for money at the Gold Club in Baton Rouge and became a featured entertainer with Continental Theatrical Agency in September 2000. She chose her stage name Stormy Daniels to reflect her love of American rock band Mötley Crüe, whose bassist, Nikki Sixx, named his daughter Storm, and that her father considered naming her Stormy before her mother's choice of Stephanie.

According to Daniels, her career as pornographic actress started in 2002 with scenes for Sin City and Wicked Pictures. In 2004, Daniels won the Best New Starlet Award from Adult Video News, which was a surprise to Daniels herself, who had made a $500 bet with another actress that Jesse Jane would win. She has directed for Wicked since 2004. Daniels has appeared with performers such as Randy Spears, Julian and Brendon Miller, to whom she was married and who edited about half of her movies. Daniels was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame on January 18, 2014, and was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame on April 16, 2014. Her directorial work that year earned 14 AVN Award nominations including a nomination for Best Safe Sex Scene for her performance with Brendon Miller in François Clousot's First Crush.

Daniels toured strip clubs as part of a 2018 "Make America Horny Again" tour. She was given the key to the city of West Hollywood, California, on "Stormy Daniels Day", May 23, 2018. Daniels was named to host the 2019 XBIZ Awards.