Keith M. Davidson is an attorney in Beverly Hills, California. Davidson has represented clients who sought nondisclosure agreement settlements from notable individuals, including Donald Trump, Charlie Sheen, and Hulk Hogan. He has also managed professional boxers Manny Pacquiao and James Toney.
In the mid-2010s, adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal retained Davidson to negotiate payments in exchange for refraining from publicly discussing their sexual encounters with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. These settlements drew Davidson into the Trump campaign expense controversy. He has since cooperated with special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation.
Early life
Davidson was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts. Davidson graduated from Boston College with a B.S. in economics in 1993. For the next two years, Davidson worked in government with the state legislature and at the Plymouth County district attorney's office. He then attended Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California, graduated in May 2000, and sworn in to the bar on December 5, 2000.
Career
Davidson has settled cases for sums up to $1.6 million. He has represented clients in criminal and civil matters, including personal injury cases, contract disputes, and entertainment law. In 2003 and again in 2012, Davidson represented children abused by a kindergarten teacher.
In the mid-2010s, adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal retained Davidson to negotiate payments in exchange for not publicly discussing their sexual encounters with Donald Trump; Daniels accepted $130,000 in November 2016, shortly before Trump was elected U.S. president, in return for signing an NDA.
In 2016, Davidson negotiated a settlement of $1.6 million for Playboy Playmate Shera Bechard from an unnamed Republican Party official.
In additional to practicing law, Davidson managed boxers James Toney and Manny Pacquiao, often visible at the latter's side when he went out in public.
Paris Hilton
In January 2007, the website ParisExposed.com launched, offering unrestricted access to digitized copies of Paris Hilton's diaries, nude photos, videos, and medical and financial records for a fee. The materials were originally acquired in a 2005 Public Storage auction, after Hilton had failed to pay. Hilton's lawyers sued in federal court; a month later, the court granted an injunction barring further publication and dissemination of the material. ParisExposed.com reappeared four months later. Hilton's attorney's sued again, naming as the defendant the St. Kitts-based shell company who registered the domain. As the attorney for the shell company, Davidson told The Smoking Gun that, while he represented the content owner, that was the extent of his involvement with the site.
Tila Tequila
In 2010, Tila Tequila alleged that Davidson threatened to market a sex tape of her and her former boyfriend, claiming that she would receive a share of the proceeds if she consented to its release. However, Tequila had no interest in the videos distribution.
Davidson quickly settled with her and offered to give her the tape as long as the settlement absolved him of professional wrongdoing. While he was vague about how he had acquired the copyright, he defended his actions in The Smoking Gun article. "... [I] was willing to give it back to her for nothing... I thought that it was probably an admirable thing to do and a way to get rid of the whole case."
Charlie Sheen
In 2010, Capri Anderson alleged that she was assaulted by Charlie Sheen and retained Davidson as council. Despite his 90-day suspension, Davidson contacted Sheen's attorney to negotiate a settlement of at least a million dollars. Sheen later sued Anderson, arguing she was attempting to extort him. Davidson arranged for Anderson to appear on Good Morning America to discuss her case and appeared with her on the broadcast interview.
The following year Davidson represented Kira Montgomery, another adult-film actress who claimed potential injury from Sheen. In 2011, Sheen disclosed to Montgomery that he was HIV-positive (she would later test negative). Montgomery was referred to Davidson.