Yesterday, Stormy Daniels testified in the trial of her former attorney Michael Avenatti. “He stole from me and lied to me,” she said, referring to the allegations that Avenatti had $300,000 of a book advance deposited in his own accounts and then told her the publisher was delinquent in paying her.

But everyone has been waiting for the dramatic moment in the trial when Avenatti, who is representing himself, would cross-examine Daniels on the stand. That moment finally arrived Thursday afternoon and it didn’t disappoint. Given that Daniels is painting Avenatti as a thief and a liar, he returned the favor by painting her as a repulsive nutcase. He started by asking her about comments she’d (allegedly) made about Avenatti being raped in prison.

“On Sept. 27, 2019 … You stated that I was ‘f—ing myself pretty nice and hard and that when I go to prison, there will be a long line of people to ass-rape me,’” Avenatti, who is acting as his own attorney at the trial, asked Daniels.

The adult entertainer said she didn’t recall the specific statement, but did not deny making it.

Avenatti then raised a statement Daniels made on Twitter about her having a brand of sex lubricant that he could use in prison.

“You suggested you could put Tabasco sauce in the lube and bring it to me in prison, so I could be anally raped,” he asked Daniels, who did not deny making the statement.

Having made that point, Avenatti moved on to Daniels’ claims that she can speak to the dead. Where is that coming from, you might ask? Well, as I pointed out here, Daniels’ latest venture is “The Spooky Babes Show,” a production where she acts as a sexy, paranormal investigator.

Yes. We have shot 15 episodes of our show and have spent the night at Lizzie Borden, Conjuring House, Bellaire House, Ashmore, Villisca Ax Murder House and LOTS more https://t.co/d3kDxfWl3F

— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) January 9, 2022

One thing Daniels does seem to be pretty good at is self-promotion and she’s been heavily promoting her new show on social media recently. Here she is with her co-host:

Come meet us at @exxxotica expo Oct 22-24 in NJ. We will also be available for private readings and reiki! Email [email protected] to book. Very limited space available pic.twitter.com/xQTVHzuO1V

— Spooky babes show (@spookybabesshow) October 13, 2021

Some of her paranormal investigations have generated local news stories, like this one prompted by her visit to a haunted bar in Safety Harbor, Florida:

The adult film star-turned-paranormal investigator made a stop in Safety Harbor while traveling the globe for her latest project, the Spooky Babes Show.

According to spookybabes.com, the show follows a “conglomerate of passionate investigators, occultists, psychics, and healers drawn together by a fervent desire to pursue and explain (and sometimes debunk) paranormal phenomenon wherever it may be.

“An endeavor built on passion, Stormy Daniels founded Spooky Babes in early 2020 with her friend Justin Loupe after a series of unexplainable and frightening experiences occurred in her home in New Orleans.”

So that’s the backdrop here. Stormy Daniels is selling herself as a paranormal investigator with psychic powers and Avenatti put her claims about that front and center in his trial:

On Friday morning Mr. Avenatti quickly returned to that topic, asking Ms. Daniels about “unexplainable and frightening experiences” in her home in New Orleans that were cited on the “Spooky Babes” website, including “poltergeist” phenomena, “shadow figures,” and sounds and voices that had “invaded” her life.

Ms. Daniels acknowledged saying that a friend had physically attacked her after the “dark entity” entered her home, and that she had seen in her kitchen an image of a woman crying over a dead child. She also said that she had the ability to speak with people who had died.

“How do you speak with the dead?” Mr. Avenatti asked.

“I don’t know,” Ms. Daniels replied. “It just happens sometimes.”

It’s really clear what Avenatti is doing here. Stormy Daniels is trying to make a living doing something besides porn and, at the moment, that means presenting herself as a medium for the cameras. If she admits all of this stuff is just bunk for the show, which hasn’t aired anywhere yet, that would kill the show. So she’s stuck defending her ability to talk to the dead on the stand, which makes her sound like a nut. The Daily Mail published a partial transcript of the questions and you can really see that dynamic in this exchange:

Avenatti: Let me ask about the dark entity in your house.

Daniels: I was told that by a medium…

Avenatti: From time to time you pull up in front of the house in an Uber and you talk to the house?

Daniels: It’s a TV show.

Avenatti: So you’re making it up?

Daniels: No.

Pretty awkward but there’s no telling if this will convince a jury that Daniels is more of a performer than a truth-teller. The questioning seems to have gotten under her skin though. A bit later, Daniels snapped at Avenatti as he asked her about her decision to hire him:

Avenatti: Did you and me and a guy called Sean Macias speak on a phone call?

Daniels: Not that I recall.

Avenatti: Did you understanding that, to a reasonable percentage, I would be entitled —

Daniels: Yes you are very entitled.

For a brief time, these two self-promoters joined force and made an incredible splash in the media. No matter how hard she tries, The Spooky Babes Show will never be as big a hit as the Resistance show she and Avenatti ran on CNN. It didn’t last and now they’re both reduced to accusing the other of being a shameless liar in court.

Maybe I’m a hopeless romantic but I have to believe that somewhere in the vast multi-verse there is an alternate timeline where President Avenatti and First Lady Stormy Daniels are laughing about how good life has been to them in the White House.