In the much ado about nothing column this week, 24 year old actress Mareli Miniutti got a restraining order against 47 year old Michael Avenatti, after Avenatti allegedly hit her in the face with pillows and dragged her out of the apartment they shared. The D.A. says it’s not going to do anything further and the matter has been bumped down to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office for assessment as to whether a misdemeanor charge would be warranted. NBC News:
Miniutti said she’d been living with Avenatti since January and last week they got into an argument over money. That dispute led to a tussle, she said, with Avenatti allegedly calling her an “ungrateful f****** b****.”
The incident left red marks on her skin, Miniutti claimed.
Avenatti said he was happy with the DA’s decision.
“I am grateful that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has rejected filing any charges against me after a fair, careful and thorough investigation,” he said in a statement. “I have maintained my innocence since the moment of my arrest.”
Miniutti also claims that last February an intoxicated Avenatti pushed her into the hallway — where she hit her head — and threw shoes at her. Miniutti has appeared in films such as “The Go Go Girls” and “How To Be Single.” Looks like somebody was reaching for 15 minutes of fame.
Maybe there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but this dust up didn’t do Avenatti any good.
Great analysis. Avenatti appears to be a driven individual, so it’s possible he lost his cool and stepped over the physical line (no excuse for that in my book). On the other hand, my gut asks: what is a 20’s something partner of a few months in this relationship for? Avenatti is brash, intelligent and self serving for himself and his clients. He has also gotten a whole lot of press since the “Stormy Daniels” thing started. A lawsuit against him garners lots of attention. Hmmmm, but I think this needs to be left up to impartial judges and corroborating evidence. Lots of publicity to be had from both parties in this dispute……..Just sayin’…
On the facts we have, there are different ways to read this. None of them make Avenatti look particularly great. Avenatti is not stupid. He should realize that any hassles he gets into are going to get reported or leaked out, at the very least, and used against him. If he’s serious about a presidential run, now is the time to live life in an exemplary fashion. Whatever this issue with the young actress is, it’s not exemplary.
Avenatti said a month or so back that he was dismayed (or maybe he said disgusted, I don’t recall) with how the press was so interested in his personal life. Get used to it. You want to engage in presidential politics, or any politics for that matter, that’s the job description: Get used to extreme scrutiny. It goes with the territory.