Stormy Daniels Was 'Completely Sure' She'd Be Murdered After Taking on Trump: 'If Something Happens to Me...'

Peacock's new documentary "Stormy" paints a harrowing portrait of the danger that's followed Daniels and her family since she became an enemy of one of the most powerful men in the world

<p>Peacock</p> Stormy Daniels in Peacock

Peacock

Stormy Daniels in Peacock's original documentary "Stormy"

Stormy Daniels' new documentary pulls viewers into the whirlwind of chaos that's stalked the actress and her family since news of her 2006 encounter with Donald Trump put her at the center of American politics.

Daniels, a Republican, never set out to be a hero of the political left — but in speaking out against one of the most powerful men in the world as he ascended to the GOP throne, she put a conservative target on her back that she's still running from six years later.

Throughout Stormy, which landed on Peacock on Monday morning, Daniels recounts the many moments along the way when she's been convinced that her outspokenness would one day get her killed.

Related: Stormy Daniels Doc Shows How Disgraced Lawyer Michael Avenatti Earned Her Trust: Exclusive Clip

<p>Peacock</p> Stormy Daniels looks through family photos in "Stormy," now streaming on Peacock

Peacock

Stormy Daniels looks through family photos in "Stormy," now streaming on Peacock

When Trump earned the presidential nomination in the 2016 election, Daniels' alleged sexual encounter with the reality TV star went from potential tabloid fodder to a serious liability for the GOP. Years earlier, a stranger had reportedly approached her and her daughter in a parking lot to threaten against selling her story to media outlets; if she was frightened then, the stakes had grown exponentially since.

"My friend was like, ‘You might actually have a problem. I don’t want to scare you, but based on the things you’ve told me, now you’re the whole Republican Party’s problem. And they like to make their problems go away,'" Daniels recalls in the documentary. "I was f---ing terrified."

At the time, the idea of a hush money offering seemed like the perfect out, Daniels tells the producers — she could protect her family from harm by ensuring their names stayed out of the news, and she would have a paper trail linking her to Trump in case anything ever happened to her. "All I had to do was sign this piece of paper and collect $130,000," she says.

Related: Trump Sexual Assault Accusers Find Unlikely Heroine in Stormy Daniels: 'She's Got a Lot of Guts'

<p>Drew Angerer/Getty</p> Stormy Daniels exits the United States District Court Southern District of New York for a hearing related to Michael Cohen on April 16, 2018

Drew Angerer/Getty

Stormy Daniels exits the United States District Court Southern District of New York for a hearing related to Michael Cohen on April 16, 2018

In January 2018, one year into Trump's presidency, The Wall Street Journal dropped a bombshell report that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen had allegedly arranged a hush money payment to Daniels in the final month of the 2016 campaign.

As Stormy documents, her life would never be the same: the press staked out her Texas home, her daughter and husband had to hole up inside when Daniels was around, and the hatred online — both by Trump and his supporters — raised concerns for the whole family, as Daniels worked in overdrive to keep her daughter's face and name from entering public view.

Related: Rudy Giuliani Under Fire for Attack on Stormy Daniels: 'I Don't Respect a Porn Star' Who 'Sells Her Body'

While people attacked her, the non-disclosure agreement initially prevented her from defending herself. Finally, aware that it could cause a $1 million fine, she went on 60 Minutes in March 2018 to tell her side of the story. When the highly anticipated interview aired, "I had these crazy messages and tweets," she says.

Two days after the 60 Minutes appearance, journalist Denver Nicks — who had been working with Daniels to secretly compile footage for a documentary — captured a terrifying moment, as the actress noticed a car aggressively pursuing them and trying to snap photos of her and her daughter. "I am really freaked out right now," Daniels' daughter, whose face is blurred for the duration of the film, says from the back seat. "Slow down, slow down!"

Related: Americans Believe Stormy Daniels More Than President Donald Trump, New Poll Says

Jimmy Kimmel Live Stormy Daniels on "Jimmy Kimmel Live"
Jimmy Kimmel Live Stormy Daniels on "Jimmy Kimmel Live"

Nicks was on the frontlines of Daniels' paranoia as she decided to challenge Trump in court for the blowback she'd received.

"When I met Stormy, she was convinced that she was living in the last weeks or months of her life," Nicks tells cameras, reflecting back on those early days of filming. "It sounds insane, and it is, but she was also suing the president of the United States, I mean, in the middle of the kind of situation where s--- like that happens."

Related: Stormy Daniels Loses Her Defamation Suit Against Trump — and Has to Pay His Legal Fees

In one scene from those fearful days, Daniels is walking around the mall with her daughter when she flatly turns to Nicks and gives him instructions on how to handle her death.

"Not to be morbid, but we should write something saying, like, 'And if something happens to me, then you get the hard drives to do with what you want,'" she says, to sighs from Nicks. "No one knows you’re here. No one knows to come after you. And you can make a copy of it and walk into any news station or police department and be like, ‘Here’s everything.’ And then sell it for as much as you can to E! True Hollywood or whatever, and split it 50/50 with [my daughter]."

Related: President Trump Calls Stormy Daniels 'Horseface' on Twitter — And She Fires Back, 'Game on, Tiny'

<p>Peacock</p> Stormy Daniels is interviewed for Peacock's documentary "Stormy"

Peacock

Stormy Daniels is interviewed for Peacock's documentary "Stormy"

Between that early 2018 fallout and the present day, Stormy shares several glimpses of the challenges Daniels has faced: failed lawsuits, hefty legal fees, getting defrauded by her lawyer, challenges with loved ones, and a "Make America Horny Again" stripping tour that took a dark turn.

"Security guards would report people showing up trying to bring guns in, knives in. It was terrifying," her tour manager tells producers. "F---, it was hell. And Stormy wanted to keep the whole thing away from her daughter.”

Related: Michael Avenatti Found Guilty of Fraud and Identity Theft for Stealing from Stormy Daniels

After years of trying to find her way and reclaim her narrative, things seemed to get a little better for Daniels. She settled down on a peaceful property with horses and felt optimistic about her ability to retreat from public view when needed.

The dream didn't last long, though, because in early 2023, Trump became the first president to face criminal charges when he was indicted over the alleged hush money payment involving Daniels. The ire she received from Trump's supporters before returned with a vengeance.

Related: Stormy Daniels Speaks Out After Trump Indictment amid Fears for Her Safety

“When the indictment happened, Michael Cohen actually texted me and expressed extreme fear for my safety," she says in the documentary. “Back in 2018, [people online called me] stuff like ‘liar,’ ‘slut,’ ‘gold digger.’ This time around it is very different. It is direct threats, it is, ‘I’m going to come to your house and slit your throat, your daughter should be euthanized.’ They’re not even using bot accounts, they’re using their real accounts."

She shows the camera crew a wound on one of her horses. “Somehow our address was leaked again online," she explains, "and in an attempt to draw my horse out so that I would then go out, they shot him with a rubber bullet.”

<p>Andrew Kelly-Pool/Getty </p> Former President Donald Trump is arraigned in a Manhattan court house on criminal charges surrounding alleged hush money payments

Andrew Kelly-Pool/Getty

Former President Donald Trump is arraigned in a Manhattan court house on criminal charges surrounding alleged hush money payments

And thus goes Daniels' story. She continues drowning in legal fees she owes Trump, she continues to receive threats, she fears for the day her daughter's identity is leaked and she has little hope that a trial in Trump's hush money case — now scheduled for April — will hold him accountable.

“The justice system failed me. It has absolutely failed me in every single way," she says on camera. "It didn’t protect me when I made reports about being threatened or somebody attacking my horse, and that’s been one of the hardest things about this."

“I’m tired," she continues. "Like my soul is so tired. And I don’t know if I’m so much a warrior now, as out of f---s, man. I’m out of f---s.”

Stormy — produced by Erin Lee Carr and Sarah Gibson, and executive produced by Judd Apatow, Sara Bernstein and Meredith Kaulfers for Imagine Documentaries — is now streaming exclusively on Peacock.

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