It’s going to be a rough weekend for Tully’s Coffee, the Seattle-based coffee chain that was once an early Starbucks competitor: it has to shut down its shops temporarily due to a lack of, well, coffee.
The reason? Michael Avenatti, lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels and Tully’s former part-owner, says they seem to have fallen behind on keeping up with store supplies.
Daniels is making headlines again after saying she had an “intimate relationship” with President Donald Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 to keep quiet. (Trump denies this claim.) Naturally, her lawyer Avenatti has been busy, filing a lawsuit to release her from her alleged agreement, and fielding press about the pending legal battle.
In the meantime, though, his other job with Tully’s seems to have fallen by the wayside. Avenatti bought Tully’s out of bankruptcy back in 2013 with former Grey’s Anatomy actor Patrick Dempsey, although there are conflicted reports about his level of current involvement. (Dempsey has left the company.) In any case, the coffee chain is currently in distress.
“At this time we have very minimal coffee left in stores,” a project director wrote in an internal email to employees obtained by the Seattle Times. “Unfortunately, we don’t know how long this will take, so we need to prepare the stores to be closed for a couple days.”
Suzy Quinn, a spokeswoman for Tully’s, told TIME that Avenatti divested his interest in the chain a year ago and serves only as general counsel, saying that the closures were related to a rebranding effort.
“All of the store closures relate to beginning the rebranding process, which takes months,” Quinn said. “We had to exhaust all existing inventory for the rebranding.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Donald Trump Is TIME's 2024 Person of the Year
- Why We Chose Trump as Person of the Year
- Is Intermittent Fasting Good or Bad for You?
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- The 20 Best Christmas TV Episodes
- Column: If Optimism Feels Ridiculous Now, Try Hope
- The Future of Climate Action Is Trade Policy
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com