Murder, greed and revenge: The twisted true story behind Welcome to Chippendales-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

Welcome to Chippendales chronicles the rise, and crimes, of the business’ owner (Picture: Erin Simkin/Hulu)

The story of the male stripping dance troupe Chippendales is one that has a disturbing amount of scandal. Trust us, you have no idea.

We might instantly think of ripped men taking their clothes off to screaming ladies, but the series Welcome to Chippendales shines a light on what was really happening behind the scenes, and how its founder got wrapped up in such serious crimes he would eventually be facing decades in prison.

This shocking story has been captured over eight-episodes, with the show created created by Pam & Tommy’s Robert Siegel.

Chronicling the rise and fall of the businessman Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee, it stars Kumail Nanjiani (The Eternals) and Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) as Nick DeNoia, a choreographer who eventually helped run the empire.

So astonished by what unfolded, the actors themselves couldn’t quite believe it all.

‘I knew what Chippendales was and thought it was a fun thing huge in America in the 80s, but I had no idea what behind it was so sordid and dark and intense,’ Kumail said.

Chippendales was the first all-male stripping troupe to make a business performing for mostly female audiences (Picture: Jessica Brooks/Hulu)

Who are the Chippendales?

A touring dance troupe best known for its male striptease performances, the Chippendales were the first all-male stripping troupe to make a business performing for mostly female audiences.

The quality of the staging and choreography also helped legitimise them as a form of popular entertainment.

Steve (Kumail Nanjiani) won’t let anything stop his success (Picture: Erin Simkin/Hulu)

Who was Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee?

Somen Banerjee was born in Bombay (present day Mumbai), India in 1944.

Migrating to the United States in the late 1960s, he initially operated a petrol station and later a backgammon club, but success started coming after he purchased a Los Angeles club called Destiny II.

Founded back in 1979 Banerjee introduced a male stripping dance troupe to his nightclub, Chippendales was part of a line-up that also featured female mud wrestling and a ‘Female Exotic Dancing Night’.

Naming his new business venture after the Rococo furniture designer Thomas Chippendale, Banerjee acquired a taste for the finer things in life and wanted to make sure his troupe was seen as anything but tacky as he climbed the social ladder.

It quickly became clear the men were a hit, and he honed in on the attention surrounding them to start building his business empire, which became the first of its kind in the United States.

It might be best known for promoting female pleasure though male striptease today, however behind the scenes of Chippendales, much darker forces were at play while it grew to become a worldwide phenomenon.

Paul (Dan Stevens) and Dorothy (Nicola Peltz Beckham) were involved in the early days of Chippendales (Picture: Erin Simkin/Hulu)

Who was involved in Chippendales?

Moving across the world with ambitions to achieve the ‘American Dream’ Banerjee wanted to become the next Hugh Hefner, a goal even supported by the Playboy founder himself, who gave the green light for the Chippendale dancers to also wear the cuffs and collar costumes that had been made famous by his Playmates.

The idea came from Chippendale’s promoter Paul Snider’s (played by Dan Stevens) wife Dorothy Strattan (Nicola Peltz Beckham), who was Playboy’s Playmate of the year in 1980.

However, while her star was rising as the same time as Banerjee’s business, her story was the first tragedy to strike Chippendales when her husband became increasingly jealous and abusive by her success after her acting career started taking off.

Soon after they separated, in August 1980 Snider shot both his wife and himself.

Nick (Murray Bartlett) comes on board as a choreographer (Picture: Erin Simkin/Hulu)

Around the same time as their deaths, Banerjee hired DeNoia, who would help bring the Los Angeles based Chippendales show to New York City, launching it into a global phenomenon.

DeNoia was an Emmy Award-winning artist, who had worked on a series of children’s musical short films called Unicorn Tales in the late 1970s.

Eventually, he and Banerjee worked out a deal that granted him the rights and half of the profits for an international Chippendales touring show.

As seen on the show, when DeNoia started being credited with the success of Chippendales, it enraged Banerjee, who also was at odds with his business partner about the creative direction of the performances.

Ray (Robin de Jesus) is hired as a hitman by Steve (Picture: Erin Simkin/Hulu)

What crimes did Chippendales become involved in?

Eventually greed and jealousy took over, and Banerjee hired a man named Ray Colon (Robin de Jesus) to murder his business partner.

In 1987 DeNoia was brutally, and fatally, shot in the face.

His death then gave Banerjee the ability to take back full control of the touring rights, and for years there were no leads in the murder until things all started to unravel when Ray ratted out Banerjee.

At the same time Banerjee was at odds with some of his dancers, but a particular struggle emerged with the live show’s single Black dancer named Hodari Sababu, embodied by the character Otis (Quentin Plair) repeatedly came up againstdiscriminatory practices.

Left out of the prolific calendar, he was fetishized by the woman coming to watch him perform, while his boss profited off him.

Speaking about the segregation, Plair said Otis felt like ‘a forbidden fruit’.

‘Stepping into that and trying to play all the complexities that come along with the nice feeling of being desired… [I had to balance with] the guttural feeling that [he knows there] is something is wrong with it,’ he said.

For years Banerjee had also been engaging in corrupt business practices that included hiring people to burn down rival nightclubs.

Steve died while awaiting sentencing for his crimes in 1994 (Picture: ABC 20/20)

The Chippendales founder eventually admitted to his crimes while being secretly recorded by Ray, before later pleading guilty to orchestrating the murder-for-hire plot against DeNoia, among other charges including attempted arson and racketeering.

Banerjee accepted a plea deal that would see him spend 26 years in prison, however in October 1994 he took his own life in his prison cell.

Annaleigh Ashford, who plays Banerjee’s wife Irene, described the series as one that is ‘delightfully complicated’.

‘My mum is actually a true crime aficionado, so she told me about the story years ago and so I knew there was a dark complicated origin story with murder and deceit and lots of dancing,’ she said.

‘There is murder and crime, but there is also love and heartbreak and unexpected heart and I think people will be surprised at how dynamic it is.’

Nick was murdered in 1987 (Picture: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

What happened to Chippendales?

Despite everything that happened, the business still went from strength to strength.

The troupe performs for millions of people each year at the show’s permanent location at a Las Vegas casino, with daily shows regularly selling out.

The Chippendales still have a show in Las Vegas (Picture: Denise Truscello/WireImage)

20 years down the line, demand is clearly not slowing down.

Speaking about how Chippendales was able to stay afloat despite everything that happened, de Jesus had a simple explanation – capitalism.

‘I mean it doesn’t surprise me because it’s America,’ he said.

‘The fact things can play out the way they did, and the business still exists, that sounds about right.’

Welcome to Chippendales is streaming on ITVX and Disney Plus.

This article was originally published on January 11, 2023.

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