Who is E. Jean Carroll? '90s Cheerleading days explored amid  Donald Trump trial 

E. Jean Carroll, 79, prominently known as an advice columnist for Elle magazine from 1993 through 2019, is suing Trump after he vehemently denied that he allegedly r*ped the advice columnist during an encounter at an upmarket New York department store, Bergdorf Goodman, in 1996. The allegations came to light after her book, "What Do We Need Men For?" described the assault in detail in 2019.

The civil battery and defamation trial of columnist E. Jean Carroll against former President Donald Trump began on Tuesday, April 25, as the jury heard opening statements in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claimed that Trump's repeated denials and lies about the allegations destroyed her career after Elle terminated her contract in 2019. While Carroll maintained that the magazine fired her because of her strife with Trump, Elle has denied it.

Since the allegations surfaced in 2019, Trump has gone on the offensive, attacking the author and even going so far as to say Carroll is "not my type." The latest trial is one of the many legal troubles plaguing the former president, who was indicted earlier this month on hush money charges.

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A look at pictures of E. Jean Carroll as her lawsuit against Trump was set in motion on Tuesday

Born in Detroit and raised in Indiana, Carroll, a cheerleader at the school, went on to cheer for Indiana University, where she competed in multiple competitions. She also developed a flair for writing early in her life. Carroll told USA Today that when she was 12 years old, she began pitching stories to the magazine. She graduated from Indiana University in 1967 and was a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority.

Carroll, a consummate writer, penned many articles for leading magazines before writing for Saturday Night Live in the 80s. Shortly after, she was hired as an advice columnist for Elle in 1993, which paved the way for a television talk show, Ask E. Jean.

Here's a look at pictures of a younger E. Jean Carroll.

Carroll, as a cheerleader at Indiana State University, went on to win the national championship and was crowned Cheerleader USA in 1964.

Jean Carroll penned a successful column in Elle, which was known for its forthright writing, where she advised women to get out from under a man's thing and create their own identity. Her compassionate replies to women seeking advice gained her a cult following for years until she was let go in 2019 on the heels of her allegations against Trump. At the time, she tweeted:

“Because Trump ridiculed my reputation, laughed at my looks, & dragged me through the mud, after 26 years, ELLE fired me. I don’t blame Elle. It was the great honor of my life writing ‘Ask E. Jean.’ I blame @realdonaldtrump."

While Carroll continues her fight in the defamation lawsuit, Trump was absent from the Manhattan courtroom as his lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, told the jury on Tuesday that the columnist filed a lawsuit to sell the book and hinder his political ambitions.