Shera Lorraine Marie Bechard (born September 14, 1985) is a model, actress and former Playboy Playmate who was once the girlfriend of Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner. ^[1]In April 2018 the Wall Street Journal first reported that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, negotiated a deal in late 2017 to pay Shera Bechard $1.6 million after she said she was impregnated by top Republican fundraiser, Elliott Broidy. ^[0]

Shera Bechard was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, a small town of around 8,000 people in Northern Ontario. ^{[4] [1]}She is of French Canadian descent. ^[6]

Shera Bechard splits her time between Los Angeles, California and New York City. ^[7]In the future she plans to create her own perfumes. She also wants to one day retire in Costa Rica running a small Bed and Breakfast. ^[4]

Shera **** Bechard is a pet lover with two cats, Arthur and Rufus, and a dwarf rabbit, Ziggy. In the future she plans to buy a big house and get two dogs, a dachshund and a doberman. ^[4]

Shera Bechard enjoys travelling and has visited London, Paris, Strasbourg, Lille, Austin, Aruba, Tulum, Antigua, St. Martin, St. Lucia, Cuba, with her favorite destinations being Annecy, France and Cahuita, Costa Rica. She plans on visiting Germany and Newfoundland in the future. ^[4]

Shera Bechard's favorite foods include sushi (especially eel, giant clam, And raw scallop), spaghetti and meatballs, Alsace Onion Tart, and a thick organic steaks. Her favorite TV shows include Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dexter, Desperate Housewives, and any of the BBC Nature series. Her favorite movies include Water Lilies, Blue Velvet, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bad Lieutenant, Gangs of New York, and Elf. Shera's favorite musical acts include Vitalic, Boys Noize, Death Cab for Cutie, Ron Sexsmith, Shania Twain, Travis Tritt, and Roy Orbison. ^[4]

Shera Bechard's pet peeves include people who abuse animals, people who don’t care about the environment, and people who mistake her shyness for snobbery.

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During a 2012 appearance on Kendra Wilkinson’s reality show *Kendra on Top *, Bechard is credited as “Hef’s girlfriend.” ^[8]In November 2011, Hefner tweeted that he was dating Bechard by writing, “Shera is both our 2010 Playmate & my new girlfriend.” That news came just after Hefner announced he had split from fiance Crystal Harris. The Hollywood Reporter said at the time that Bechard had been living in the Playboy Mansion since March 2011, along with her cats, Arthur and Rufus, as well as her rabbit, Ziggy. ^[1]

On April 13, 2018 the Wall Street Journal first reported that President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen negotiated a deal in late 2017 to pay $1.6 million to Shera Bechard who said she was impregnated by Elliott Broidy, a top Republican Party fundraiser, according to people familiar with the matter. ^[0]

News of the deal had come out in the same week that Michael Cohen's home and hotel room were raided by federal agents.

Cohen had arranged the payments to the woman on behalf of Elliott Broidy, a deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee with ties to Donald Trump. Elliot Broidy, a Los Angeles-based venture capitalist, worked on the Republican committee with Mr. Cohen, also a national deputy finance chairman. ^[0]

The deal, which hasn’t previously been reported, prohibited Shera Bechard from disclosing her alleged relationship with Elliot Broidy in exchange for $1.6 million to be paid to her over two years in quarterly installments, these people said.

The first payment was due Dec. 1, according to one of the people.

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The nondisclosure agreement involving Elliot Broidy resembles an October 2016 pact in which Michael Cohen agreed to pay $130,000 to former adult-film actress Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) to prevent her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump in 2006, one of the people familiar with the matter said. The White House and Michael Cohen have denied any encounter took place. ^[0]

The Elliot Broidy agreement uses the same pseudonyms for Elliot Broidy and Shera Bechard—David Dennison and Peggy Peterson—as the earlier agreement used for Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels, respectively, the person familiar with the matter said.

Both agreements had separate side letters that listed the real names of the parties, this person said.

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Shera Bechard's lawyer at the time of the deal Keith Davidson also represented Stormy Daniels in her deal with Michael Cohen less than two weeks before the 2016 election.

He negotiated a $150,000 payment in August 2016 for Karen McDougal, another former Playboy model, from American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, for the rights to her story of an affair with Donald Trump. Michael Cohen discussed that deal with American Media as the company negotiated with Karen McDougal, according to people familiar with the matter. ^[0]

As part of the contract, Shera Bechard agreed not to pursue what she said were potential legal claims against Elliot Broidy, according to the person familiar with the matter.

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n the contract, Elliot Broidy denied the allegations and agreed not to make any legal claims against Shera Bechard in return for her signing the contract, the person said.

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Shera Bechard claimed that she became pregnant and that Elliot Broidy was the father, but the contract states that matters relating to the alleged pregnancy and paternity of the alleged child are excluded from the claims resolved in the agreement, the person familiar with the matter said. Shera Bechard declined to provide proof that she was pregnant with Elliot Broidy’s child, the contract says, according to the person familiar with the matter. ^[0]

The contract said Shera Bechard reserved the right to seek child support in the future, but she has told Elliot Broidy’s camp that she had an abortion, the people familiar with the matter said. ^[0]

Shera Bechard alleged that Elliot Broidy, prior to the settlement, had been paying her for an exclusive sexual relationship that lasted one to two years, one of the people said.

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In his statement, Mr. Broidy apologized to his wife and family.

“It is unfortunate that this personal matter between two consenting adults is the subject of national discussion just because of Michael Cohen’s involvement,” his statement said.

“Mr.

Cohen reached out to me after being contacted by this woman’s attorney, Keith Davidson.

Although I had not previously hired Mr. Cohen, I retained Mr. Cohen after he informed me about his prior relationship with Mr. Davidson.”

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After The Wall Street Journal contacted Shera Bechard’s representatives seeking comment, Peter Stris, her current lawyer, said in an emailed statement that “Ms.

Bechard is deeply distressed that someone has revealed information regarding her and Elliott Broidy.”

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Shera Bechard had “no intention of making this painful information public, and requests respect for her privacy at this difficult time,” he said.

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Elliott Broidy said “I acknowledge I had a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate,” in a statement provided by a spokesman.

“At the end of our relationship, this woman shared with me that she was pregnant.

She alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period.”

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On the afternoon of Friday, April 13, 2018, after The Wall Street Journal reported on the settlement, Mr. Broidy, who is married, resigned from his RNC post, according to a person familiar with the matter.

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Mr. Cohen didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Wall Street Journal.

A spokesman for Shera Bechard's lawyer at the time, Keith Davidson, said he couldn’t confirm or deny the existence of the agreement.

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