Michael Avenatti Arrested On Domestic Violence Charges (UPDATE 4)
Credit: Screen shot
November 14, 2018

It wasn't too difficult to see this one coming. After Michael Avenatti started believing his own press releases and had a multi-million dollar judgement filed against him, he now faces charges of domestic violence involving his estranged spouse.

According to TMZ, his estranged wife filed a report on Tuesday and it is confirmed that he is in the custody of the LAPD tonight.

TMZ is relying upon law enforcement sources, who say there was another confrontation today at an exclusive apartment building in Century City.

Our sources say the alleged incident occurred Tuesday, but there was a confrontation Wednesday between the two at an exclusive apartment building in the Century City area of L.A.

We're told during Wednesday's confrontation the woman ran out of the apartment building and was on the sidewalk on her cellphone with sunglasses covering her eyes, screaming on the phone, "I can't believe you did this to me."

We're told security brought her inside the building and Michael showed up 5 minutes later, ran into the building, chasing after her. He screamed repeatedly, "She hit me first." We're told he angrily added, "This is bulls***, this is f***ing bulls***."

Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I heard an abusive man whine that "she hit him first." Avenatti has been his own biggest fan since he burst on the scene with the Stormy Daniels case, and he's been an effective advocate for her. But abusers exist in all walks of life, and if he is proven to have hit her, he too, should be sent to jail and then to the Land of Outcasts where Steve Bannon resides.

UPDATE: Avenatti's estranged wife is saying she didn't file any charges against him, she denies the TMZ report and more. Buzzfeed reports:

Avenatti's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a statement to BuzzFeed News, attorneys for Avenatti's wife, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, refuted reports by TMZ that the alleged incident involved her.

"My client and I have reviewed the TMZ article alleging that my client, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, has been injured and that Michael Avenatti has been arrested as a result of some incident that occurred between them. This article is not true as it pertains to my client," the statement said. "Ms. Storie-Avenatti was not subject to any such incident on Tuesday night. Further, she was not at Mr. Avenatti’s apartment on the date that this alleged incident occurred. My client states that there has never been domestic violence in her relationship with Michael and that she has never known Michael to be physically violent toward anyone."

Storie-Avenatti, 49, filed for divorce on Nov. 27, 2017, according to court records.

LAPD has confirmed Avenatti was in custody and awaiting booking on domestic violence charges, but this suggests perhaps it was not his estranged wife who filed them. I will update with any details which may emerge.

Update 2:

LAPD confirms arrest:

Update 3:

Avenatti released this statement:

"I wish to thank the hard working men and woman of the LAPD for their professionalism they were only doing their jobs in light of the completely bogus allegations against me. I have never been physically abusive in my life nor was I last night. Any accusations to the contrary are fabricated and meant to do harm to my reputation. I look forward to being fully exonerated.”

Update 4:

Avenatti appeared before the cameras after his release:

Jacob Wohl's fake "security company's" Twitter account is claiming he's their scalp. I'll call BS. Wohl likes to pretend he's at the center of everything, that he's so important we must pay attention to him. With that said, something really seems off about all of this, which is why I bolded my original words above: IF HE IS PROVEN GUILTY.

To be perfectly clear: Either TMZ got this story totally wrong, or their LAPD "source" got the story totally wrong, or the report filed is bogus, or he has a problem. That's what investigations are for.

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