Stormy Daniels is being accused of ignoring a sexual assault on the set of a porn film that she directed last year and comparing herself to Harvey Weinstein while mocking the #MeToo movement.
Tasha Reign, whose real name is Rachel Swimmer, has blasted Daniels on Twitter and is now speaking out in the media about the incident.
Reign was starring in a film called “The Set Up,” which was being directed by Daniels under Wicked Pictures, when she says she was groped by one of the crew members.
“I was sexually assaulted by one of her crewmembers. He groped and grabbed me from behind,” Reign tearfully told the Daily Beast. “I spoke up immediately because I was in the moment, and I was so proud of myself. She 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. And she did not handle the situation appropriately, respectfully or professionally. So it’s a little bit outrageous when I hear her say things about how she is standing up for women and wants to be a voice for other women to be able to come forward when I was assaulted on her set and she didn’t give me any care or attention, and didn’t even send that man home.”
Reign first raised the issue publicly in January on Twitter.
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
He grabbed my ass and then made Sex humping noises from behind. He then admitted that he was “joking” right infront of you. I then was shaken up about the entire event all day. Why on earth would I make that up? I have no ill will, I simply want to speak my truth.
— Tasha Reign (@TashaReign) January 15, 2018
And I find it beyond offensive that you think as a female director I'd ever allow someone to work for me who'd behave like that. I'd kick someone's ass myself if a girl was mistreated on my set. EVERYONE knows that about me. I'm not stupid. I see a set up.
— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) January 15, 2018
Instead of believing the woman and apologizing, Daniels declared that she would never work with her again.
“I thought you did a fantastic job on the movie and looked incredible (fuck, am I even allowed to say that?) and it makes me sad that you’d make such an erroneous claim about me and the people that I VERY carefully select to work for me. We are done here and forever,” Daniels asserted.
During filming on November 14, Reign also claims that Daniels made fun of the #MeToo movement.
Reign told the Daily Beast that Daniels was “basically making fun of the Me Too movement, in so many words,” joking to the crew, “Oh, I could be seen as Harvey Weinstein because I’m flirtatious with my crewmembers and I can be inappropriate.”
The next day, Reign says she was assaulted by a member of the crew.
“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 explained. “I felt a pit in my stomach and thought, shit, my scene partner, Michael Vegas, is in the other room… who is this?”
She continued, “So I turn around and it’s a crewmember from set. I look him directly in the eye and go, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ and I look so upset. So I thought, OK, I can either ruin my makeup, which took an hour and a half to do, or I can go 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.”
Reign finished her scene and began to cry. When she tearfully confronted Daniels to report what happened, the adult actress and unofficial mascot of the Democratic Party shot her down.
“So then I confront Stormy and this guy in the hallway and I’m like, ‘This is what happened. What on earth were you thinking?’ The guy starts backpedaling and goes, ‘Oh, I was just trying to get through.’ And I said, ‘If you were trying to get through, why did you grope me? And why did you make sexual moaning noises?’ and he says, ‘Oh, it was a joke.’ I said, ‘That’s sexual harassment and assault. If you don’t know that, that’s a problem.’ Stormy is there, and she’s totally silent. Just neutral. Which is such a problem. He says sorry, starts talking about how he has a family—which all men do when they get accused.”
Reign said Daniels told her to go into another room to “cool down” before entering and telling the shaken woman that she “probably made him cry,” referring to the alleged abuser.
Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, told the Daily Beast that the incident “did not occur as Ms. Reign suggests.”
