Chippendales 1979

[Jermale Kunstler]

Chippendalesis a touring dance troupe best known for its male striptease performances and for its dancers' distinctive upper body costume of a bow tie, collar, and shirt cuffs worn on an otherwise bare torso.

Established in 1979, Chippendales was the first all-male stripping troupe to make a business performing for mostly female audiences. The company produces Broadway-style burlesque shows worldwide and licenses its intellectual property for select consumer products ranging from apparel and accessories to slot machines.[1][2] The Chippendales perform at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Chippendales was founded by India-born Somen "Steve" Banerjee and Los Angeles lawyer, Bruce Nahin.[3][4][5] In 1975,[4] Banerjee bought a failing West Los Angeles bar named Destiny II.[4] In 1979, Banerjee and Nahin renamed the bar "Chippendales" and began hosting exotic dance nights for women,[4] which became a major hit.[3]

In 1987, Banerjee hired his close associate Ray Colon to murder his business partner Nick De Noia.[4] Colon later hired Gilbert Rivera Lopez[6] to murder De Noia. Banerjee also plotted to have two other former associates killed.[4] He was arrested in 1993 for murder for hire, racketeering, and attempted arson, for which he was sentenced to 26 years on a plea bargain. He hanged himself in his cell a year later.[4]

The company continues to battle similar male revues in the courts. In 1980, Chippendales successfully registered its "Cuffs and Collar" uniform as a trademark,[8] following an agreement with Hugh Hefner that was brokered by Playboy model Dorothy Stratten. However, because this registration was based on "acquired distinctiveness", Chippendales filed a subsequent application for the same mark in an effort to have the mark recognized as being inherently distinctive. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed the decision of the examiner that the mark was not inherently distinctive with one member of the panel dissenting.[9] The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board noted that its decision in no way detracted from the rights flowing from the registration in 2003: "However, the fact that the applicant already owns an incontestable registration for the Cuffs & Collar Mark should serve as no small consolation in spite of our decision here."[9]

On October 1, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.[10] Nothing in that decision affected the validity of the 2003 registration. One of the reasons for upholding the decision was the testimony of Chippendales' own expert, who admitted the male dancers' outfits were "inspired" by those of the Playboy Bunny, who also feature a bow-tie and shirt cuffs.[11][12]

Former The Bachelor fiance Vienna Girardi hosted the Chippendales' "Ultimate Girls Night Out" in November 2010. Karina Smirnoff of Dancing with the Stars hosted the following month.[16] Ronnie Magro of Jersey Shore guest hosted an event in February 2011. It was reported that Jeff Timmons would be performing with the group through the summer.[17][18] In 2012, Joey Lawrence was a dancer for a special engagement in June at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.[19] Former dancers from the inception of the 1980s Chippendales choreographed show include Michael Rapp, John Bernard Richardson, Dean Mammales, Scott Marlowe, and Jonathan Hagan.[citation needed]

Films and TV series based on the real story of Chippendales and its founder Somen Banerjee include the 2000 TV movie The Chippendales Murder,[22] directed by Eric Bross;[23] the 2001 direct-to-video film Just Can't Get Enough,[24] and the 2022 Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales.[25]

Others who have attempted to make a film about the Chippendales story include Tony Scott in 2009, producer Alan Ball in 2014,[26] Salman Khan in 2016,[27] and Craig Gillespie in 2017, in a film that would have starred Dev Patel.[28][29]

The true story of Chippendales has also been the subject of several episodes of true crime series, as well as the 2021 Amazon Prime and Discovery+ four-part documentary series Curse of the Chippendales, written and directed by Jesse Vile.[30]

Scot said the FBI agents explained during that July 1991 conversation that they had intercepted a call, and they believed a hit had been put on him and two other Adonis members to be killed by cyanide injection.

Steve Banerjee was the founder of Chippendales. Behind the glitz and glam of one of the sexiest shows in entertainment, an FBI investigation eventually revealed Banerjee was the mastermind behind multiple murder-for-hire plots, including one against Scot.

Banerjee, who owned a nightclub in West Los Angeles called Chippendales, launched his first show featuring male strippers in 1979. The idea proved to be an overnight success, and Banerjee, an immigrant from Mumbai, India, had lines of women gathered outside his club almost nightly.

In the early 1980s, Banerjee wanted to upgrade the performance and eventually expand, so he hired former Emmy-award winning television producer and choreographer Nick DeNoia to help with the expansion. They eventually opened a new Chippendales show at a club in New York City.

According to Scot, Banerjee and DeNoia's relationship began to sour, and they would often clash over the creative direction of the show. Eventually, Banerjee and DeNoia cut a deal recorded on the back of a napkin, where DeNoia would get fifty percent of the profits from a touring version of the Chippendales.

But when it became apparent that touring had become a lucrative part of the business, Banerjee became frustrated with DeNoia's success, distrustful that DeNoia was paying Banerjee his fair share of the touring profits, and hired a man named Ray Colon to help carry out an attack on his business partner, according to FBI special agent Scott Garriola.

On April 7, 1987, Colon and Rivera Lopez travelled from Los Angeles to the Chippendales office in New York, according to Garriola. Rivera Lopez shot DeNoia in his office, and the gunman fled before police arrived.

After sitting in jail for seven months, Colon decided to cooperate with the FBI. Garriola said Colon told authorities Banerjee was behind DeNoia's murder and the plot against the Adonis dancers. Garriola said they decided to set up a sting operation to secretly record Banerjee admitting to his role in the crimes, using Colon as an undercover informant. The FBI arranged for Colon to be released from jail under the ruse that Colon needed special treatment for a terminal issue with his kidneys, according to Garriola.

When Colon arrived, Banerjee directed Colon to meet in the bathroom and put his finger to his lips. Any time Colon asked a question, a paranoid Banerjee wrote his answer on a Post-it note, then ripped it up and threw it in the toilet, according to Garriola.

The conversation went on for three or four hours, Garriola said. Banerjee, who was still unsure if he could trust Colon, even said at one point he thought the walls were thin and he was nervous the FBI was listening next door. But eventually, Garriola said, their patience paid off.

\"We hear Banerjee confess to his complicity in hiring Ray Colon for the murder of DeNoia. They talk about the attempted murders of Read Scot and other dancers,\" said Garriola. \"We were able to get the evidence that we needed.\"

Los Angeles club owner Steve Banerjee started the Chippendales, naming them after the classic Chippendales-style furniture that adorned the club where the guys first performed.The concept of a male strip show was the brainchild of Paul Snider, who along with two other men founded Chippendales in 1979. But Paul made headlines for another sad reason the following year when he killed his estranged wife, Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten, before killing himself.

Today the Chippendales perform in a ten-million dollar theater and lounge built specifically for them at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Through the quality of its staging and choreography, Chippendales helped legitimize stripping as a form of popular entertainment.

Who owns Chippendales now? The Chippendales company is primarily owned by Chippendales USA, LLC. The majority interest in this company is held by two businessmen: Kevin Denberg and Stabile Productions, owned by Kurt Stabile. These two entities partnered in 2007 to acquire Strategic Experiential Group, which brought them the majority ownership of Chippendales.

Their partnership has led the Chippendales brand to perform in over 25 countries and continue to expand their worldwide presence. However, ownership and company structures can change over time, and it is advised to consult updated sources for the latest information on the ownership of Chippendales.

Chippendales is a touring dance troupe known for its male striptease performances and associated merchandise. The company was founded in 1979 by Somen Banerjee and Bruce Nahin, and it gained widespread popularity in the 1980s with its show primarily intended for female audiences. Here is a brief history of Chippendales, including its ownership changes.

In 1981, Emmy Award-winning choreographer Nick De Noia joined Banerjee and Nahin as a partner and helped turn Chippendales into a successful global touring show. This partnership did not last long, as creative and financial differences led to a falling out among the partners.

In 1994, Banerjee was arrested for attempting to hire hitmen to murder Nick De Noia, who he ultimately succeeded in having killed in 1987, and his former business partners. Banerjee faced multiple charges, including racketeering, conspiracy to commit assault, and arson in connection to Chippendales-related incidents. In 1994, while awaiting trial, Banerjee committed suicide in his jail cell.

In 2006, Denberg sold his stake in Chippendales to Michael Silas, who maintained ownership of the company until selling it in 2011 to the European company Matt&Andrej Košič Production, run by Matt Košič and his son Andrej. Under this new ownership, Chippendales has continued to tour globally, with a flagship show at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

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