Stormy Daniels gushes that watching Michael Avenatti work is like seeing Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 10 July 2018

No one will dispute that Michael Avenatti is good at what he does — there is room to argue, though, over what exactly it is he is doing. Avenatti, representing adult film star Stormy Daniels in three lawsuits against President Trump, has made some 200 television appearances in four months, and drawn the irritation of at least one judge, who has told him to end his "publicity tour." Avenatti has gone as far as to float running for president.

But while he has his critics, Avenatti is picture-perfect in the eyes of his allies. In an intriguing profile published at The New York Times Magazine on Tuesday, Daniels describes her lawyer like this:

"I'll put it this way," Daniels told me. "People forced to play defense tend to get sloppy, they tend to make mistakes. And look, if I didn't think Michael was doing a good job, I would fire his ass." But, she added, "every time I watch him work, I think, This is what it must have been like to see the Sistine Chapel being painted. But instead of paint, Michael uses the tears of his enemies." [The New York Times Magazine]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.