Things are not looking good for Michael Avenatti. His ex-girlfriend Mareli Miniutti says he violently dragged her out of bed and called her a ‘f–king bitch.’
Mareli Miniutti, 24, is described as an “aspiring actress” by CNN. A Los Angeles judge today granted Miniutti a restraining order against celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, whom she claims physically and verbally assaulted her.
Michael Avenatti.
Miniutti says she was in a relationship with Avenatti, who is 47, and that they lived together. She accuses him of hitting her face with pillows, shouting that she was an “ungrateful fu**ing bitch,” and dragging her across the floor.
Avenatti was arrested last week by police in Los Angeles as a suspect of felony domestic violence, and released on bail the same day.
He denies having been violent against “any woman,” “ever.”
He has not been charged with a crime.
CNN and other news organizations today confirm that Miniutti is the woman who is the alleged victim in last week’s much-covered arrest.
Avenatti would probably claim that he’s the victim, but I digress.
Mareli Miniutti, via her Instagram.
I also spoke with Mareli Miniutti’s husband, Michael Miniutti. He told me: "In Mareli's defense, she was never aggressive. She never put me in an aggressive state of mind or anything like that. She’s a very calm, well-mannered, respectful individual. Very polite. Classy woman."
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) November 20, 2018
In a declaration filed as part of the request for a restraining order in Los Angeles Superior Court, Miniutti, 24, said she and Avenatti had been dating since October 2017 and living together since January of this year.
She described an altercation last week in which she and Avenatti began fighting about money, leading to him calling her an “ungrateful, f***** bitch.” Avenatti proceeded to get “very close to me in a threatening manner that made me afraid,” Miniutti said in the declaration.
As the altercation worsened, Miniutti alleged, Avenatti “began forcefully hitting me in the face with pillows from the bed,” and then grabbed her wrist and, later, her arm.“He dragged me on the floor of the apartment towards and out of the door into the public hallway,” Miniutti said. “I was wearing only my underwear and t-shirt at the time, and suffered scratches to the bare skin on my side and leg.”
Miniutti said she eventually went down to the ground floor of the building, with Avenatti following. Miniutti said a friend picked her up and took Miniutti to her home, after which she called the police and gave them her statement.
The next day, Miniutti said, she returned to the building to retrieve her belongings from the apartment. As she began to gather her things, Miniutti said, Avenatti appeared, so she ran to the balcony in fear.
“A short while later, police detectives entered the apartment and told me that (Avenatti) had been arrested,” Miniutti said in the declaration.
Miniutti also said there was another occasion — in February of this year — when Avenatti “acted in a physically violent manner” toward her. He “had been drinking,” she said, “and became angry at me.”“Respondent pushed me out of the apartment into the public hallway where I hit my head against a door across the hallway. Respondent then threw my shoes at me, striking me in the leg.”
She also alleged that Avenatti had a history of being “very verbally abusive and financially controlling” toward her.
Avenatti has repeatedly denied the allegations against him, telling CNN he never laid a hand on Miniutti. He also appeared to briefly blame Jacob Wohl last week, in an encounter with photographers from TMZ dot com.
As the altercation worsened, Miniutti alleged, Avenatti "began forcefully hitting me in the face with pillows from the bed," and then grabbed her wrist and, later, her arm.
"He dragged me on the floor of the apartment towards and out of the door into the public hallway."
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) November 20, 2018
In a declaration filed as part of the request for a restraining order in Los Angeles Superior Court, Miniutti described an altercation last week in which she said she and Avenatti started fighting about money.
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) November 20, 2018
Miniutti also said there was another occasion — in February of this year — when Avenatti "acted in a physically violent manner" toward her. He "had been drinking," she said, "and became angry at me."
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) November 20, 2018
Avenatti’s attorneys: "Ms. Miniutti and Mr. Avenatti had an argument… during which Ms. Miniutti behaved in a volatile, agitated and irrational manner. However, Mr. Avenatti did not inflict any corporal injury or cause any traumatic condition upon Ms. Miniutti."
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) November 20, 2018
In court docs, Miniutti states that she is “afraid that [Avenatti] may cause harm to me and harass me.” https://t.co/8OJj58dOPj
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) November 20, 2018
ABC News has obtained the declaration of Mareli Miniutti, the woman who has accused @MichaelAvenatti of domestic violence. She reveals she had been dating Avenatti since October 2017 and the relationship ended on November 13, 2018- the night of the alleged abuse.
— Kaitlyn Folmer (@KaitlynFolmer) November 20, 2018
Meet Mareli Miniutti, the actress seeking Michael Avenatti restraining order https://t.co/aFueBdkbis pic.twitter.com/c9MGPAvkMC
— New York Post (@nypost) November 20, 2018
PHOTO, TOP: Mareli Miniutti, via her Instagram, photographed in 2018.