Michael Avenatti threatened Nike attorneys that they would be met with the same public scrutiny as R. Kelly and Donald Trump, unless they paid up big bucks to let Avenatti handle the situation.

According to the criminal complaint, a March 21 meeting between Avenatti and attorneys for Nike was held in New York. The meeting was audio and visually recorded, with the consent of the Nike lawyers, but it obviously does not appear Avenatti was aware the meeting was being taped.

During the meeting, Stormy Daniels' attorney allegedly threatened, "as soon as this becomes public, I am going to receive calls from all over the country from parents and coaches and friends and all kinds of people – this is always what happens."

Avenatti was referring to, what he expected, would be a public firestorm after he announced his accusations, which were over Nike allegedly illegally paying the families of high school athletes.

Avenatti continued, "whether it’s R. Kelly or Trump, the list goes on and on – but 10% of it is actually going to be true, and then what’s going to happen is that this is going to snowball"

In the cases of both R. Kelly and Trump, Avenatti had been very public about making statements on social media and crowdsourcing the public for any information that may not be known. According to the federal complaint, it appears he was trying to use the two celebrities as examples for the type of ongoing problems he could cause for Nike, unless they paid the money he wanted.

As we reported, Avenatti has been arrested in New York on wire fraud and bank fraud. Interestingly enough, R. Kelly's attorney has already offered his legal services, even though Avenatti is currently representing a client involved in the criminal prosecution against the singer.

"Because I don’t hold grudges I am happy to offer #Avenatti My legal assistance since I hear he needs a good lawyer," Steve Greenberg wrote.

How you like them apples?