It would be safe to say that, unless you were a regular frequenter of PornHub, most people didn't know who Stormy Daniels was until this year. Early in 2018, the Wall Street Journal ran an article in which it was revealed that Donald Trump had paid the adult actress $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair that she had with the President a decade ago.
Now, Daniels is suing Trump to void the contract that she signed in the run-up to the 2016 election which prevented her from speaking openly about the rumored encounters.
In light of this, here are eight facts that you may not have known about Daniels:
1. Stormy Daniels is not her real nameStormy was born Stephanie Clifford in Baton Rouge, Louisana, in 1979. The 38-year-old now lives in Dallas with her daughter and her partner.
2. She's an equestrian championDaniels is a nationally ranked equestrian and she broke her back at a show jumping competition last year, forcing her to take time off work. She owns seven horses, including a pony for her daughter.
3. She produces and directs her own filmsDaniels was nominated for "Director of the Year" at last year's adult-film awards. As a result of her success, she has now signed a deal with Digital Playground - one of the biggest porn production companies.
4. She's a big deal in the industryIn 2014, Daniels was inducted into the Adult Video News Hall of Fame.
5. She was going to run for U.S SenateBack in 2009, Daniels considered running for Senate in her home state of Louisiana. "I have never said that I’m the best person for the job. I absolutely am not," Daniels told a TV station at the time. "I just think I'm a better choice than the senator they already have."
6. She's starred in mainstream moviesWhile Daniels is most notable for her adult films, her IMDb page credits include movies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Finding Bliss. She was also in the Maroon 5 music video for 'Wake Up Call' in 2007.
This made sound pretty peculiar, but Daniels wrote on her Twitter account that she would like a PR team so that they could take her g-strings out of the freezer and scrape the wax off for her. When pressed on what the hell she was going on about, she said: "It's a legit issue. This is the current state of my freezer. Candle wax is a real problem for us kinky strippers and our tiny (overpriced) butt floss."
8. She is absolutely savage on TwitterSo there you have it, while Stormy Daniels may be receiving an unfair amount of scorn at the moment, it turns out she's a bit of a legend.