Daniels, known for a long career in adult entertainment — including more than 150 films and time as a Playboy Playmate and stripper — has long been linked to the so-called hush-money story. She said she and Donald Trump had an encounter in 2006, a claim first reported in 2018 after The Wall Street Journal detailed an alleged $130,000 payment by Michael Cohen to keep the matter quiet. Trump has denied the tryst. Daniels recounted aspects of the episode in her memoir and testified in the 2024 trial that led to a May 2024 conviction for falsifying business records; the former president later won a second term in November 2024 and received a conditional discharge two months after the verdict.