Michael Avenatti's ex-girlfriend Mareli Miniutti breaks her silence
EXCLUSIVE: 'He grabbed my wrists, looked me in the eyes with menace and called me a f**king ungrateful c**t.' Michael Avenatti's ex-girlfriend breaks her silence about night disgraced lawyer 'dragged her from bed in her panties and threw her out'
- Mareli Miniutti has exclusively recounted to DailyMailTV the horror night her then-boyfriend Michael Avenatti violently threw her out of his apartment
- The 25-year-old claims Avenatti, 48, called her a 'motherf***er' and an 'ungrateful b***h,' during the altercation at his Los Angeles pad last November
- Miniutti said she was left 'shocked' and 'shaken' after the alleged attack, which left her bruised and suffering painful carpet burns
- The fight started when Avenatti began to berate her and called her an 'ungrateful f***ing b***h' when she said she didn't have enough money to buy gas for the car
- She said: 'To see someone screaming at you, exploding at you, being so aggressive and then to change it to 'I love you baby' in a second, I was scared'
- The aspiring actress also claims Avenatti was financially controlling and manipulative and told her a string of lies about himself
- Avenatti vehemently denied any wrongdoing after his release on bail and even claimed the allegations were fabricated by his political adversaries
- In a statement, Avenatti said: 'There is a reason why I was cleared of all wrongdoing by three separate investigations. These outlandish claims are unsubstantiated and completely bogus'
In Part 1 of DailyMailTV's two-part exclusive interview, Mareli Miniutti describes her disturbing altercation with the bellicose attorney Michael Avenatti.
The former live-in lover of Michael Avenatti, has revealed the terrifying moment Stormy Daniels' former lawyer allegedly turned on her, violently grabbed her wrists yelling you 'ungrateful c**t' before dragging her screaming across the floor of his apartment and hurling her out the door.
Breaking her silence in an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, Mareli Miniutti said she was left 'shocked' and 'shaken' after the alleged attack on November 13 last year which left her bruised and suffering painful carpet burns.
The 25-year-old Estonian actress claims Avenatti, 48, called her obscenities during the altercation at his $22,000 a month luxury LA apartment, which led to him being booked for felony domestic assault and Miniutti filing a restraining order against him.
The lawyer, best known for formerly representing porn star Stormy Daniels in her case against President Trump, vehemently denied any wrongdoing after his release on bail and even claimed the allegations were fabricated by his political adversaries.
In a statement to DailyMailTV, Avenatti said: 'There is a reason why I was cleared of all wrongdoing by three separate investigations.
'These outlandish claims are unsubstantiated and completely bogus.'
Miniutti wiped tears from her eyes as she described the night, claiming: 'He grabbed my wrists, looked me in the eyes with menace and called me a f**king ungrateful c**t, it sent chills down my spine, I was terrified.'
The alleged attack was the breaking point in a year long relationship beset with problems, with Miniutti adding: 'After what he did that night there was no going back, I would never be in a relationship with him anymore.'
Mareli Miniutti has exclusively recounted to DailyMailTV the horror night her then-boyfriend Michael Avenatti violently threw her out of his apartment. The 25-year-old revealed Avenatti, 48, called her a 'motherf***er' and an 'ungrateful b***h,' during the altercation at his Los Angeles pad last November
Miniutti claims her much older boyfriend was verbally and physically abusive, financially controlling and manipulative and from the start, told her a string of lies about himself
The blonde beauty, who started dating the California litigator in October 2017, claims Avenatti assaulted her following a petty argument over money
He added: 'Is she now a waitress?'
But Miniutti's lawyer Michael Bachner disagrees, and says Avenatti isn't cleared of all wrongdoing, just that the City Attorney's office decided not to proceed with the case.
For Bachner's full explanation, see the fact box on the right.
Miniutti claims her much older boyfriend was verbally and physically abusive, financially controlling and manipulative and from the start, told her a string of lies about himself.
Photos submitted into court showed Miniutti's injuries from that fateful night.
Miniutti says the altercation left her with scratches on the side of her leg and hand as well as 'carpet burns' on her left side from being dragged across the ground.
The blonde beauty, who started dating the California litigator in October 2017, claims Avenatti assaulted her following a petty argument over money.
The fight began in the master bedroom when Avenatti began to berate her and called her an 'ungrateful f***ing b***h' when she complained about not having enough money to buy gas for the car.
'He stood up from the bed and was screaming at me, he called me an ungrateful f***ing b***h and said I was disrespectful. He left the room and slammed the door.'
Miniutti said she decided to sleep in the guest room to not antagonize the situation further.
'Shortly after he came there and started yelling at me to 'get the f**k out'. He told me that I'm a 'c**t' and a 'disgrace' and all kinds of things, whatever came to his mind. He picked up a pillow and started hitting me aggressively with it.
'I was like, 'Whoa, babe, this is not cool, what's going on?'. I grabbed my phone, I started texting my girlfriend, Jasmine.
'He just aggressively grabbed the phone out of my hand and said it's his phone as well as it's his apartment, so I should get the f**k out of his place.
'I was brushing it off because he had told me those things before. I tried to stay calm but then he turned more aggressive.
'He grabbed my wrists, looked me in the eyes with menace and called be a f**king ungrateful c**t, it sent chills down my spine, I was terrified.
'He started to drag me out of the bed.'
Wiping tears from her eyes as she described the ordeal Miniutti says Avenatti's hand slipped at first because of the body oil she had put on after showering.
But his second attempt was more successful.
The actress, who appeared in Ocean's 8, says she became 'afraid' for her safety and screamed for help towards a window.
The 25-year-old Estonian actress revealed that Avenatti, 48, called her a 'motherf***er' and an 'ungrateful b***h,' during the altercation at his $22,000 a month luxury Los Angeles apartment
Miniutti says the altercation left her with scratches on the side of her leg and hand as well as 'carpet burns' on her left side from being dragged across the ground
The actress said: 'I was so shocked and scared, I felt broken and couldn't even stand up, so I reached for the doorbell of our neighbor and rang it but Michael heard it. He opened the door again and dragged me back in and started yelling at me, 'what the f**k is wrong with you, you motherf**king c**t why are you getting other people involved?' I was so scared of him'
'He got me out of the bed and dragged me out of our apartment all the way to the public hallway in my panties and I was wearing a t-shirt,' she recalls.
'I was so shocked and scared, I felt broken and couldn't even stand up, so I reached for the doorbell of our neighbor and rang it but Michael heard it.
'He opened the door again and dragged me back in and started yelling at me, 'what the f**k is wrong with you, you motherf**king c**t why are you getting other people involved?' I was so scared of him.
'I screamed and then I just instinctively stood up and I said, 'please don't come closer to me, please give me my phone and I'll just go.'
To see someone screaming at you, exploding at you, being so aggressive and nasty with their words and then to change it to 'I love you baby' in a second, I was scared.
Miniutti says in that instant Avenatti changed his behavior.
'He started saying, 'Hey baby, we're so much better than this,' she recalls.
'And that was the moment when I just tried to run out. I didn't even care that I didn't have pants on, I just wanted to escape.
'Just to see someone screaming at you, exploding at you, being so aggressive and nasty with their words and then to change it to 'I love you baby' in a second, I was scared.
'I had seen both Michaels, but I had no idea he could switch it up so quickly, that's what freaked me out, that's what really scared me.'
Miniutti, who was raised in Voru, Estonia, a small town of 14,000 people, before coming to America aged 19 as an au pair, says she tried to run out of the apartment but Avenatti blocked the door.
She said: 'He was holding the door and not allowing me to escape. I ran to the bedroom and knew he'd follow, I put on some yoga pants.'
The slender framed blonde managed to bypass Avenatti as he circled her in the bedroom, exited the apartment barefoot, and made a run for the elevator as he chased after her.
While the two were in the elevator, he allegedly began to beg, 'Don't do this Mareli, don't involve them.'
Miniutti says she was distraught and made it down to the front desk of the apartment complex and started telling the security personnel what had happened.
She says: 'I was all freaked out and was telling them what happened, I told them to check the security cameras but unfortunately there wasn't any cameras.'
By this time Avenatti had changed his body language and he was 'calm'.
Miniutti, who was raised in Voru, Estonia, a small town of 14,000 people, before coming to America aged 19 as an au pair, says she tried to run out of the apartment but Avenatti blocked the door during the alleged domestic violence altercation last year
The lawyer, best known for formerly representing porn star Stormy Daniels in her case against President Trump, vehemently denied any wrongdoing after his release on bail and even claimed the allegations were fabricated by his political adversaries
'He knows how to play his cards, he told them it was a misunderstanding and he gave me my phone back in front of them,' recalls Miniutti. 'He was so calm.'
The actress says a female security guard then took her into a side room so she could hear her side of the story without Avenatti present.
But Miniutti says her aggressive boyfriend kept interrupting and coming into the room.
'The woman offered to call the police but I didn't want to cause a scene, I was too shaken by what had just happened, Michael was right there, I was scared of him, I didn't know what to do at all,' she recalls.
Miniutti says she called her close friend who came to pick her up and they went back to the friend's place.
She says Avenatti immediately started texting her saying, 'come back baby, we're much better than this.'
But she said: 'After what he did that night there was no going back, I would never be in a relationship with him anymore.'
After gathering her thoughts, Miniutti decided to call the police to report what had happened and get a restraining order against her now ex boyfriend.
She says her intention wasn't to see him arrested she just wanted to be able to return to his apartment to collect her belongings safely without any issues.
'He's a lawyer, so me just going back to his place... I would have no power, it would be my word over his and I was scared, so that's why I went to the police.'
The police officers who took her statement asked if she had any marks from the alleged attack.
'I said yes and showed them and they took pictures,' she recalls.
'My hand was scratched from him grabbing the phone and I had carpet burns on my side, I couldn't sleep on my side for a few days afterwards.'
Miniutti, who had been living with Avenatti since January 2018, claims the alleged attack was second in their relationship. She alleged that an intoxicated Avenatti turned 'physically violent' and shoved her into a hallway in February the same year causing her to bang her head on a neighbor's doorway
Miniutti, who has moved back to New York since the incident happened, says Avenatti was extremely financially controlling over her, making it impossible for her to work to stand on her own two feet but at the same time he was slow in paying her expenses
Miniutti says her injuries weren't 'crazy', but added, 'Is that what it takes for a woman to be safe? Something crazier? A broken bone?
'I'm not saying I had a black eye or I was almost killed, that wasn't the case, but it doesn't make it okay to treat a woman like that.'
Miniutti, who has moved back to New York since the incident happened, says the whole thing was sparked because she dared to complain to Avenatti that she didn't have enough money to put gas in the car.
She claims Avenatti was extremely financially controlling over her, making it impossible for her to work to stand on her own two feet but at the same time he was slow in paying her expenses.
That fight happened on the day Miniutti had accepted an acting gig that was shooting in two locations in Los Angeles.
While en route to the second location she realized she was running low on gas and had no money to buy any.
'Michael wouldn't let me work and support myself so I was completely reliant on him for money.
'That day I was completely out of cash and my credit cards were over the limits, so I was unable to buy gas to make it to the second location, it was humiliating.'
Miniutti, who was driving Avenatti's brand new Range Rover, says she was forced to borrow $20 from a girl she met on set.
Miniutti says her injuries weren't 'crazy', but added, 'Is that what it takes for a woman to be safe? Something crazier? A broken bone?'
Avenatti seemingly had the full package - successful job, nice apartment, nice cars, access to a private jet and expensive hobbies, according to Miniutti
She says that when she got home she showered and went to bed and Avenatti came back an hour later.
'He could see I was upset and he sat next to me and asked, 'am I in trouble or something'.
'I said 'no, but I really want to find a job'. I told him I never want to be in a situation like that where I'm driving a $150,000 car but I have no money for gas.
'I started telling him about a waitress job I had gone to see about at a Sushi restaurant on Sunset.'
That's when she said Avenatti flipped his lid, calling her a 'f***ing ungrateful bitch.'
'He told me he had sent me $2,000 earlier in the day but it turns out my bank withheld it because I was too deep into my overdraft,' she said.
Miniutti, who had been living with Avenatti since January 2018, claims the alleged attack was second in their relationship.
She alleged that an intoxicated Avenatti turned 'physically violent' and shoved her into a hallway in February the same year causing her to bang her head on a neighbor's doorway.
'He had been drinking and then he threw my shoes at me, hitting me on the leg,' she recalls.
In legal paperwork she claimed Avenatti had 'a history of being very verbally abusive and financially controlling' towards her and 'vehemently opposed' her wish to earn a living outside of Hollywood.
Miniutti also recalls Avenatti fantasizing about buying a mega-mansion in Beverly Hills and would show her photos of $10 million seven bedroom properties he liked
Miniutti and Avenatti dated for nearly a year, before things finally reaching their tipping point after a domestic bust up last November. Pictured: Avenatti in a costume with a friend
'He has made promises to 'take care of me' financially and sometimes fails to follow through,' she says in papers.
The actress says that despite Avenatti's appearance of wealth he wasn't awash with cash during their relationship.
The rent on his luxury Century City apartment was $22,000, he had a share in a private jet and employed a full time driver named James, but Miniutti says she had to beg him to give her money to get by day to day and he refused to let her work.
'I was living this really nice lifestyle with Michael, we lived in a beautiful apartment and I drove a nice car, but he wouldn't let me work beyond the odd acting job and he wasn't giving me any money for expenses.
'My friends would say, 'why don't you just get a job', but you don't understand how aggressive he was and how under his power I was. He was very controlling and wouldn't let me get a job, he wanted me to be at his beck and call when he came back from trips away.
Miniutti said: 'I'm telling you I didn't shop around or get crazy gifts from him, it wasn't like he showered me with gifts or money'
'I'm telling you I didn't shop around or get crazy gifts from him, it wasn't like he showered me with gifts or money.
'His lifestyle looks one way but the reality is different.'
Miniutti admits she made a 'mistake' letting him control her but she says she felt powerless.
'In that situation when you're with someone who's going through something very stressful and every time I would start talking about wanting to work he would get really aggressive and angry, I just started like stepping back.
'I just tried to be a supportive partner because I still had feelings for him.
'Looking back, I would have acted differently. But you don't realize that while you're in it.'
At the end of November last year the LA District Attorney's Office decided not to charge Avenatti with felony domestic assault.
His case was sent to the city attorney's office for misdemeanor consideration but that was also denied.
Miniutti's attorney Michael Bachner is still pushing for a civil restraining order to be extended for several years.
Avenatti, who has vehemently denied all allegations from the beginning, released a statement soon after the DA dropped the case saying he is 'grateful for justice.'
'I am thankful that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has rejected filing any charges against me after a fair, careful and thorough investigation.
'I have maintained my innocence since the moment of my arrest. I wish to thank my supporters, friends, family, attorneys, and clients for the outpouring of support they provided. This Thanksgiving, I am especially grateful for justice,' he said.
The former lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels is embroiled in a bitter legal battle with his estranged wife, Lisa Storie, who obtained a judgment against him last year for millions of dollars as part of their divorce
Miniutti told DailyMailTV she was left feeling 'disappointed' by the decision.
'I got a call from the district attorney telling me that 'we believe in you', but we are not sure we can convince the jurors.
'It left me feeling disappointed, disappointed that my statements were never questioned.
I'm disappointment that his statements were never questioned. None of the sides were heard out. That makes me sad.
'I'm disappointment that his statements were never questioned. None of the sides were heard out. That makes me sad.'
She added: 'Where do people who need help go in this country, who are in a situation that they no longer wish to be in, where they are violated or mistreated, where are they supposed to go.
'I'm very lucky to be moving on but I'm overwhelmed with disappointment in the justice system.'
As for Avenatti the actress says she remains 'disgusted' by his behavior and believes he has 'fooled all of America', with his continued lies.
'I don't even know if I ever knew Michael, he had been lying to me from day one,' she says.
'He lies and manipulates very very well, after our relationship ended I felt extremely naive and I was very broken, especially after finding out about the things in his past he had lied about.
'But sooner or later people will see his true face because you can't run from who you are for forever.'
Miniutti, who appeared in Ocean's 8 (pictured center), says she became 'afraid' for her safety and screamed for help towards a window during the alleged domestic violence incident
Lisa Storie, 50, (pictured) exclusively told DailyMailTV in April that Avenatti owed $2 million in child and spousal support and branded the lawyer a 'dead beat dad' and a 'fraud'
Aspiring actress Miniutti portrayed Met Gala star Cassandra in Ocean's 8 and has other acting credits to her name including 2016's Liev Scriber flick Chuck, Forgetting Sandy Glass and How to Be Single, which starred funny woman Rebel Wilson.
She's due to appear in upcoming movies Sargasso and Crypto with the likes of Kurt Russell, Luke Hemsworth and Alexis Bledel.
Her Instagram bio tells visitors: 'Don't confuse Instagram for real life.'
Avenatti has endured a torrid few months.
The former lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels is embroiled in a bitter legal battle with his estranged wife, Lisa Storie, who obtained a judgment against him last year for millions of dollars as part of their divorce.
Storie, 47, exclusively told DailyMailTV in April that Avenatti owed $2 million in child and spousal support and branded the lawyer a 'dead beat dad' and a 'fraud'.
And last month Avenatti was hit with a 36-count federal indictment which alleges that for almost a decade, the loud-mouthed lawyer has been stealing from clients, hiding money from the IRS and lying.
The new charges were brought by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles and make the prospect of Avenatti spending the rest of his life in prison a more realistic one.
They include 10 counts of wire fraud, 19 counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and four counts of bankruptcy fraud, the oldest of which stems from 2010.
Among the charges were allegations he stole a $4 million settlement he won for his paraplegic client Geoffrey Johnson, who had hired Avenatti to fight a case against Los Angeles County after he was poorly treated in a county jail.
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