During Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in New York City, former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was mentioned in connection with Stormy Daniels’ testimony.
Daniels, an adult film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, testified about an alleged $130,000 payment she received to remain silent about her affair with Trump.
Daniels recounted an incident from 2006 involving Roethlisberger, who was with Trump at a Lake Tahoe nightclub when they met. She previously detailed this encounter in her 2018 book “Full Disclosure,” where she described feeling ‘terrified’ after Trump asked Roethlisberger to escort her to her hotel room. According to Daniels, Roethlisberger requested a ‘goodnight kiss’ which she refused, and he lingered outside her door knocking for several minutes.
Daniels also reminisced about trying on Roethlisberger’s Super Bowl ring that night, after Trump introduced them, referring to her as his ‘little friend Stormy’ and to Roethlisberger as ‘Big Ben.’
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Roethlisberger, who did not comment following the release of Daniels’ book, had faced accusations of sexual assault in the past. In 2008, two years after the meeting with Daniels, he was accused of assaulting a woman in a Lake Tahoe hotel room, a case that was eventually settled out of court in 2012. He was also accused in 2010 in Georgia, but charges were not filed, though the NFL suspended him for six games, later reduced to four, for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a letter to Roethlisberger, emphasized the quarterback’s commitment to making better decisions, acknowledging his improved conduct over the months following the allegations.
Roethlisberger retired from the NFL in 2021 after an 18-year career with the Steelers, during which he won two Super Bowls and recorded the fifth-highest all-time passing yards in NFL history.