Stormy Daniels Accused of Covering up Sexual Assault

Tasha Reign, the star of an adult film directed by Stormy Daniels late last year, is accusing Daniels of covering up for a crew-member after the actress reported an on-set sexual assault.

Reign told her story to the far-left Daily Beast and says that last November, on the second day of filming The Set-Up in Los Angeles, “I was sexually assaulted by one of [Stormy Daniels’] crewmembers. He groped and grabbed me from behind.”

Keep in mind that in November, we were already in the post-Weinstein era.

Reign, who the Daily Beast describes as politically liberal, says that what motivated her to come forward was watching Daniels present herself as a champion of women during one of her high-profile attacks on President Trump.

“It’s very upsetting to see her speak like that and then I think, ‘but I know the real you. I was there. I saw what you did’.”

Reign says that after the alleged assault, “I spoke up immediately… [Daniels] was the director that day, I went straight to her and straight to the man that did it, we had a conversation about it, I went to the owner of Wicked Pictures, I did all the right things.”

According to Reign, Daniels “did not handle the situation appropriately, respectfully or professionally… I was assaulted on her set and she didn’t give me any care or attention, and didn’t even send that man home.”

The 29-year-old described the incident this way, “I’m fully clothed in my outfit, I’m standing and signing my paperwork, and all of a sudden I feel two hands from behind me grab my ass and make sexual moaning noises.”

Reign was alone in the room. “I felt a pit in my stomach and thought, shit, my scene partner, Michael Vegas, is in the other room… who is this? So I turn around and it’s a crewmember from set.”

Rather than hold up production, Reign chose to “do my scene as quickly as it’s going to take and then as soon as it’s over, I can go and confront Stormy, the director who has all the power that day on set, and the man that did this to me.”

After the scene, Reign burst into tears. Her co-star, Vegas, corroborated “Reign’s post-scene emotional state” and told the Daily Beast, “Right after we wrapped … Her demeanor had changed but it was hard to tell why or what had happened. Everything came to a halt so that the issue could be addressed… But I don’t know if there was ever a real resolution.”

Reign claims a “resolution” is the opposite of what happened, that Daniels actually shamed her for confronting the crewman, who claimed, in front of Daniels, that his groping was just a joke.

“You probably made him cry. He’s crying right now,” is what Reign claims Daniels said to her.

Unsatisfied with Daniels’ response, Reign went up the ladder to the executives of Wicked Pictures, the company producing The Set-Up.

At first she was led to believe her complaint would result in company-wide action that would ensure this never again happened. After five meetings, though, she says the owner of Wicked, Steve Orenstein, told her that Daniels denied the incident happened.

Reign also claims that the day before the alleged assault, Stormy was “joking” about Harvey Weinstein and dismissing the whole #MeToo movement, saying things like, “Oh, I could be seen as Harvey Weinstein because I’m flirtatious with my crewmembers and I can be inappropriate.”

Daniels has publicly denied the allegation.

On January 14, Reign tweeted the following directly to Daniels, “I was inappropriately groped and sexually harassed by one of the men on your crew November 15th right before my BG scene. Which you were then made aware of that day. You continued to allow him to stay on the set with no repercussion. I never questioned your directorial skills.”

Daniels replied, “You were not. I was right there…as were several other people and NONE of them will agree with you. How dare you try to undo 15 years of my reputation and his career. I will not allow it. Find me one person who will state otherwise. Best wishes.”

I was innapropriately groped and sexually harassed by one of the men on your crew November 15th right before my BG scene. Which you were then made aware of that day. You continued to allow him to stay on the set with no reprocussion. I never questioned your directorial skills.

— Tasha Reign (@TashaReign) January 15, 2018

Stormy Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, who has benefited from $175 million in free media from the anti-Trump CNN and MSNBC, issued a statement to the Daily Beast that could prove problematic for both him and his client. Avenatti appears to be claiming the investigation into the alleged assault is closed and Reign is lying.

“[A]fter the incident in question, Wicked performed a thorough investigation and found no substantiation for the allegations. It simply did not occur as Ms. Reign suggests,” Avenatti’s said in part, which appears to directly contradict a just-released statement from Wicked, that says the investigation is ongoing.

“We have been and are appropriately investigating,” the company said.

Reign says she has an attorney deciding what to do next and adds, “I’m not after money. I’ll sue you for a dollar, I don’t care about the money. What I want is for you to recognize, a) This occurred, and b) Here are the new protocols that people have to follow on set[.]”

 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.