All language subtitles for Curse.of.the.Chippendales.S01E02.720p.DSCP.WEBRip.x264-GalaxyTV

[crowd cheering]

[Nick] Women go
to see a strip show.

As soon as a woman
takes off her bra,

we're dirty-minded little boys.

With women it's not that.
They'll get turned on

by a man but they have
to know that personality.

That's why our guys
are not sex objects.

We can't have sex objects,

we have that total human beings,

or the night doesn't work.

[Bruce] Nick De Noia
first came into my life

when I was introduced
to Nick by Steve.

[Nick] What the hell
are you doing?

Nick was an
accomplished choreographer.

You know, about two weeks
now I've telling you,

damn it, Bob, this is slow.

[Bruce]
He understood who we were.

And he certainly had
the charisma necessary

to fund a sexy brand.

[Nick] There's a big
audience out there,

let's figure out
what the women want.

And let's give it to them.

- [man] What do the women want?
- You got me.

[Bruce] Steve was convinced it
was time to expand to New York.

Nick was a New Yorker,

he had the connections in
New York, it seemed perfect.

Please welcome Pecs on Parade,
The Chippendale Dancers.

[Bruce] And then Steve
told me that he and Nick

had written on
a napkin a deal that said

if Nick found us
a New York club,

then Nick would have the license

to take Chippendales
on tour forever.

But when Steve signed that deal,

he had no conception
about how valuable

those rights
would become someday.

[women screaming]

That agreement led
to a lot of trouble.

Give a round of applause
to Nick De Noia.

[woman x] There was no love
lost between the two of them.

They clashed plenty.

[Bruce] And that
agreement is what led

to the demise of
Chippendales as I knew it.

[man speaking]

[cheerful music playing]

[man] What do you
want him to do?

[women] Take it off!

[woman] It's no secret they're
popular, and they're in demand.

The Los Angeles Ladies Only club

has been so well received,
they'll soon open in New York,

and then Director Nick De Noia
hopes to move them on to Paris.

Enjoy yourself.

[Nick] It seems to me
that New York is capital

of all kinds of entertainment.

The one thing they didn't have

was super entertainment
for ladies only.

The napkin deal required Nick
to find us a New York club.

He went out, he found a
club by the name of Maggie

at 61st in 1st in New York,

who would be interested
in hosting us.

Steve was beyond himself,
he was excited.

New York was huge for him.

Being a success in New York
would put us on the map.

We would control the two
largest cities in the United States

and our brand
would be unbeatable.

But before we can
open in New York...

Nick had a lot of AM
88work to do here in L.A.

[cheerful music playing]

I don't think there are
any men in America

that have better jobs than you.

When Nick started
working with us in L.A.,

he brought more dancing,
more lighting,

more wardrobe,
more ensemble dancers.

It was like Chippendales
on steroids.

Now we had cues, we had
marks that we had to remember,

lighting cues, music cues.

And if you weren't on that mark,

he would really get mad.

Get the light up, in time!
Thank you.

Good morning.

Nick was not
an easy guy to work with.

I mean, he really tried
to beat me down

to see if I would
stand up to him.

Boom, boom, harder.

No, that one's got to be
straight across,

it's got to be strong,
do it again.

Boom, boom.
Thank you, nice eye.

[Michael] He was always
striving for perfection,

but never getting it,
and you see him

turning a lot of people
negative who just didn't like him.

I'm easy.
As I say to them,

"Gentlemen, if you give me
what I want, I'm a sweetheart.

The only time
you have trouble with me

is when you make me
break your back."

[Eric] Nick took himself
way too seriously.

He had to make a scene,

he was a big diva, lot of drama.

He'd just like get in
your face over stupid shit,

just so that
he could be the A-dog.

And he liked to, you know
get on these dancers, like,

you know, they were
his little bitches, and,

"Yeah, no, don't do that,
I'm telling you..." like,

we're not doing Cats here,
you know, or Hamilton.

It's a fucking
burlesque show for women.

And most of them
are so fucking drunk

they don't care
how these guys are dancing.

You do that turn, and it's like
I have a bowl of tropical fish.

That's the amount of sensuality

that I just felt
from you guys, like this.

I'm sure you're going to interview
some people that idolize him

like some kind of God,
like genius.

I mean he was just...

What the hell are you doing?

He was a dick.

He was just a real mouthy dick.

[Candace] It's very true that
Nick was an abrasive person.

He was rude at times,
and he was pushy.

Dunk! Good morning.

[Candace] But he was an
innovator, he was a creator,

a mad passionate-intense man

who knew what he wanted,

and he wasn't going
to settle for anything less.

[Nick]
The eighties is the decade

of the male sex symbol
once again,

and the breeding ground is here.

[Candace] He didn't want just
the best show in New York,

he wanted to be the best of
the biggest show in New York.

You are God's gift to womankind

except that if
they had that way,

they'd destroy you
and get rid of you

on the face of the earth,
remember that.

[Candace] Nick was
from New York City,

but he had a lovely house
in Los Angeles,

and I would go over there
often to work with him

on this new script for New York.

We worked together
almost every day.

He was a very focused person.

And he was high energy,
and he was hyper,

he's like those big blob toys

and you pull the plug
and they go...

Like this as the air
is coming out.

Nick had that ability
to make you think

that you were the only
other person in the room.

[Michael] I've been working
for the club maybe a few months,

I had a taste of being on stage.

I had danced a couple of times
folded in with people.

If somebody should
get sick, you know,

I would always be the
filler, but it's not, you know,

not a number.
I'm just a standby.

One night Nick comes
to me after the show,

and very quiet
takes me aside and says,

"Mike, this is the first
script of the new show,

tell me what you think
about it."

So now I'm feeling
pretty good, like, "Wow",

the director of the show, you
know, wants me to read the script.

So I'm reading it,
there's a barbarian,

there's this politician,

but then it comes across
the perfect man.

So I read it.

"Wow, that's a great, I
hadn't had... it's a great one."

And he goes, "Michael,
we're gonna go to New York.

We're going to open the biggest
show Chippendales has ever had.

And this character,
the perfect man,

he's going to be the most
important number of this,

the one I built
the whole show around",

and he told me,

"You got the job, you're
going to be the perfect man."

So the next thing I know I said,

"All right,
give me a ticket."

["Everybody wants
to rule the world" playing]

[Nancy] Michael and I moved to
New York in September of 1983.

Oh my God!

To see New York City
from the road.

I felt like I was in a movie.

♪ Welcome to your life ♪

We were starting
this adventure together.

It was just beyond exciting,

I can still feel those feelings

thinking back to that day.

[Michael]
I'm this kid from East L.A.

and all of a sudden I'm
in the middle of New York.

And I just kept thinking,
"You made it!"

There is that song,
If you make it in Ney York,

you can make it anywhere.
That's how I felt.

♪ Everybody wants
to rule the world ♪

[Michael] Every time
I turned on the TV there was,

"Chippendales is coming
to New York City."

We're told,
there's a lot of chirping

about the opening
of Chippendales tonight.

It's a new night club
designed to delight women,

featuring male performers.

I mean, we were
on every news channel,

and in the morning talk show.

At Chippendales
we go down to a G string.

We like to leave a little
bit to the imagination.

I think it's a little bit
more fun that way.

We were just the buzz
of the whole city,

which was also, you know,
a bit overwhelming.

Should be quite a show.

[sirens wailing]

[Nancy]
I was nervous for him,

because this show was a
whole different level of a show.

And Michael was the star.

[announcer speaking]

I was backstage, getting ready
to go on stretching, rehearsing,

and the place was packed

all the way up,
every seat was filled.

I was scared shitless.

And when those lights
went down, you know,

for the first time,
I can remember thinking,

"Okay, Michael, here it goes.

[exhales deeply]

[heart pounding]

This is it."

[interviewer speaking]

No.

You got to be kidding me.

No, I have no idea.

["The Kid is Hot Tonight"
playing]

[women screaming]

[Nancy] It was just really
exciting to watch women scream

and be crazy over him.

[Nancy] Seeing him in
that perfect man number.

Yeah, it just
made me feel proud.

"Yeah, that's my man," no?

I remember walking down.

Going down the stage, yeah.

[Candace] The
expectation, the energy,

everything that went
into preparing

for this opening
night culminated,

and I'm surprised
that the building

didn't fall down
around our ears,

the noise level was so high.

♪ The kid is hot tonight ♪

♪ Whoa so hot... ♪

[Candace]
And it's just all

perfect.

[women cheering]

[Bruce] New York was
an immediate success.

Steve felt he was
king of the world.

Chippendales became
unsinkable at that point.

[women cheering]

The bad things
were yet to happen.

[Nancy] Warm 80 degrees
here in New York City.

[Michael] Within three months,
we felt New York was our home.

[Nancy]
This is our backyard.

Michael is barbecuing
hamburgers.

Everything was just
clicking for me

as far as Chippendales in
New York was concerned.

[Nancy] We lived on at 81st
on the East Side for a while.

It just seemed like...

this is where we belong.

Our son was born
March 27th, 1984.

Peekaboo!

Peekaboo!

We named him
Bo Christopher Rapp.

It just felt like we were
going to be a family now

and, you know, this is forever.

You know your family film.

When you're young
you think those things

until things start
to go down a darker road.

[woman] You're trying
to project a fantasy.

Constant fantasies from
a female point of view.

It's definitely... We are
Disneyland for ladies.

Finally women demanded their
right to express that they like men.

[Eric]
Nick De Noia.

Yes, he had this little wedge
of Chippendales,

which was in New York, and needed
an interesting fun show to be at.

But that wasn't Chippendales.

Chippendales is
a bigger idea than that,

and Banerjee understood that.

I mean, he had
a fucking amazing ability

to see how he could take
this hack strip club idea,

and build it into
something really big.

[interviewer speaking]

[Eric] He totally
did the nightclub

as a laboratory
of experimentation,

and I think the one thing
you can admire about me

was that I tried really hard
to experiment

with different things, different
concepts, or promotional ideas.

So I became a creative director,

by, you know, working hard
at just finding better ways

to get Chippendales out there
in the mainstream level.

[Eric] He understood
brand building

without having to go
to college to do it

and that's just fucking amazing.

I mean, he was actually,

it's gonna sound crazy to a
lot of people listening to this,

but he was actually like the
Steve Jobs of sexuality for women.

[chuckles]

[cheering music playing]

All he thought about was making
Chippendales a bigger name,

because he knew there was a
way to make more money out of it.

Wait, these are
respectable women,

you don't want to see
these kind of things.

[cheering]

I guess I was wrong.

[women screaming]

[Eric] He studied, morning,
noon, and night his market.

It just, it was his porn.

[Dan] He was always researching,

trying to see how he can
implement Chippendales

into the trends,
into the fashion.

Guys stopped shaving.

See? They had the little
stubble from Miami Vice.

There was a time when
everybody slicked their hair back.

There was a time when
people tried growing mustaches,

like Tom Selleck
in Magnum P.I.

And there was a time when
everyone was clean cut short hair.

Banerjee was trying to imitate

what he would see working
in mainstream America,

and he would mimic that
in the calendars,

or in ads that we would do.

And the people that he picked
for models or dancers

were all based on their face.

♪ You're looking
straight at me ♪

♪ I'm in a poster hanging
on your wall, baby... ♪

[Read] The faces were very, very
important in the Chippendale brand.

♪ Drive me crazy
when your tongue... ♪

[Read] And the way they
identified who they were,

were by putting them in
this lineup of 10 to 15 guys.

Banerjee would always watch it

because the audience applause

would dictate
who the women really like.

[women screaming]

Banerjee from that
would select them

to go on to a photo-shoot
with the photographers

for potential calendar work,
greeting cards, posters.

So if you were a face

or a spokesperson for the brand,

Steve went out of his way
to be nicer to you,

because you meant more
to him monetarily.

No.

Well, I was never a face.

I was a body part.

I did body part shots.

I do group shots.

One time Steve Banerjee
made it very clear,

he pretty much let me know,

"You are a very good
performer, Read,

but you're not a looker."

You just kind of
take that and you go,

"All right. Well, Steve,
thank you very much."

So, I was not a face.

And Mr. November
is Dan Peterson.

[women cheering]

Steve did ask me
if I would do the calendar,

and I was all gung ho,

I mean, I'd never been
in a calendar,

I'd never been
photographed, period.

I don't know if you can see
this but you're, you do have...

We have clothes.

Yes, you do have
some clothing on

so you're not
completely in the buff.

[Dan] Being in the
calendar was great,

but once I was on the cover,

that's where things
sort of exploded.

That's where everything sort
of became a little more real.

["Take On Me" playing]

[Roger] The first Chippendales
calendar came out in 1981.

The first production
was like 100,000,

but the following year,
we went to half a million,

and then from there on
we went to a million.

[man] The Chippendales are
famous not only for their sexy dancing,

but for what has become
one of the hottest

and best-selling
calendars every year.

[Roger] Steve's idea was to
spread the name as fast as possible,

and through the calendars
it was simple.

[Dan] We went to events
when there was 10,000 people

flooding a mall, waiting
to get calendar signs.

This is really the biggest
crowd we've ever had.

We expected hundreds,
not thousands.

♪ ...another day
to find you... ♪

[Roger] And then
Steve got more creative

and started selling everything.

[woman] They're part of a
multimillion dollar enterprise,

which include:
sexy exercise tapes,

sexy lingerie, sexy jeans,

sexy calendars
and even sexy coffee cups.

I brought something for you
to use in bed every night.

- Oh!
- [audience cheering]

[Roger]
And the more we sold...

Yes, he's cute.

[Roger] ...the more
Chippendales got known.

Here they are, the most
exciting guys in America,

it's Chippendales.

[Candace] In the 1980s
Chippendales was so popular

that we didn't have
to seek out publicity.

Excuse me.

[laughter]

[Candace] We were
in the magazines.

Major motion pictures.

Gentlemen.

Chippendales became iconic.

♪ Take me on ♪

♪ Take on me ♪

The fact this multimillion
dollar organization

is continuing to expand

shows that Chippendale
thinks that male stripping

is still big business.

Money was coming
from all different directions.

Coming from a family
who didn't have money.

I didn't know
how to handle money.

And I was hoping that Nancy
was better than me,

but she wasn't good
with money either.

[Michael laughs]

So people always ask me,
"How much money did you make?"

I said, "A little less
than I spent."

Pecs on Parade,
the Chippendales Dancers.

[all cheering]

[Bruce]
The money was rolling.

And Steve used to tell me
he was making so much money

there's not enough dirt
in his backyard to bury it.

We'll be right back.

[Eric] Steve knew
we had a phenomenon,

he would say to me,

"Things like this
don't come like, you know,

in everyone's lifetime.

You're lucky if you get
like one Chippendales,"

he knew he had a gold mine.

And it wasn't
just about the money,

it was like about
the success of building it.

Unfortunately, other people
tried to dip their hand,

and take credit away from him.

That became a huge problem.

Name, Michael Rapp.

Age, 27.
Height, 6'3".

Hair, brown.
Eyes, green.

Perfect?

I try my best.

[reporter] Perfect or not, Michael
obviously knows how to work an audience.

[Michael] When I did
the perfect man,

my ultimate goal

was to take you
on a sexual journey.

I'm the perfect man,
but yet, you know,

I'm wild, I'm lustful,

I'm going to take
my six foot four body

and I'm going
to engulf you in man.

I'm just about sex,
I was made for sex.

I want you to feel lust.

I want you to lust me
as much as I lust you.

So, you know, as New York
is trying to build up,

my reputation and my persona

keeps growing.

I mean, I'm the king
of New York.

This belongs to me.

[Nancy]
In the beginning,

it felt good
being married to him.

I mean, he was
the star of the show.

It just made life
seem really special.

Many times,
women would say to me,

"Oh, you're so lucky."

But I was starting
to not feel lucky,

because after a while,
there are always women

trying to be my friend,
to get to him.

And that, you know,
became a part

where you didn't
trust every woman

who was trying
to be your friend.

That brought a little
insecurity in me.

[Michael]
I'm doing a close-up, ma'am.

[Nancy] As a woman,
that can be a little,

a little worrisome.

But he treated me
like I was a princess,

like very special.

It felt like...

just I could totally trust him.

[announcer] He is the
founder, the creator,

he is Mr. Chippendale.
I'd like to welcome back

the one and only, give a round
of applause for Nick De Noia.

[crowd cheering]

[Eric] Nick De Noia
loved media coverage.

It's like, the energy
was the Wizard of Oz,

the guy behind the curtain.

But De Noia
was just a media whore.

Sitting next to me, the founder,

the director of the Chippendales,
Nick De Noia, and also...

Nick was always doing
interviews for Chippendales,

he was trying to become
the face of Chippendales.

We want every woman
to bring her mother back,

and her daughter back,

and we want to have grandma
out there, you know.

[Nick] Grandma? I don't
know if you can see it,

but we have a nun in
the audience, look at this.

Nick had this gift
of gab, and language

that Steve did not,
Steve stuttered, he stuttered.

They're all kind of like
very good looking guys

that will be
very [stutters] attractive

for our female clientele.

Steve was a very quiet
person, he was private,

and he wasn't as
charismatic as Nick De Noia.

Nick was much more vibrant,

much more gregarious,
much more articulate.

We men have had our sensual
entertainment on stage

the last 10,000 years.

You women can finally say,
"We have it now."

[woman] Right.

[man]
That's why he's so popular.

Nick is getting
all the publicity.

What do you say, ladies?

Would you like to see
these guys one more time?

And he was touted as
the creator of Chippendales

and the force
behind Chippendales.

Our top PR firm here in L.A.

was trying to get Banerjee
more interviews,

so that he could
start, you know,

owning the authorship
of his company.

But the problem was,
he was terrified

of being in front of the camera.

Finally, this PR agency
in L.A. convinced him.

"Look, you got to start to feel
comfortable getting on television."

So they did a mock interview.

[interviewer speaking]

[Eric]
You could tell right off

that Banerjee
does not have the chops.

Not even the modicum of chops

to be on any television at all.

[Eric] It was horrible,
couldn't market himself.

He could market Chippendales,

but he couldn't market
Steve Banerjee.

[Eric] Banerjee looked
at it once and that was it.

He was too afraid
to look at it again.

I think it'd be fun, Nick,
for you to describe

what goes on in the nightclub
where the Chippendales are.

You've never seen anything,

till you see a roomful
of female inhibitions

go down the tubes all at once.

[all laughing]

[Bruce] Steve didn't like all the
attention that Nick was getting,

and there was
an inherent conflict

as to the two men's goals,

both of whom wanted
to be the chief.

[Read]
It was always a challenge

when you're working
at the Chippendale club

when Nick and Steve
would be there

at the same time,

because it was
always confrontational.

It was like
a big pissing contest.

Nick was the show.

So Nick was more about
the Academy Award,

and Steve Banerjee was more
about the box office.

And a lot of times
when he was trying

to get a new face in,
or a new body in,

Steve would move them
into the lineup,

and the guys would be so
static, and stiff and couldn't move.

Back, back.

Move that thing!

Nick would go, "No,
I'm not putting that guy,

he has no talent.
He can't walk and chew gum."

And Steve would go,
"No, I want him in the show.

He's good looking, you know, the
women love him, put him in the show."

And then they're arguing over,
you know, "It's my show,

it's my club, it's my show,"

and Nick would constantly
argue over with Steve

in front of the cast, his
management, his employees.

And I think over time

that began to fester
in Banerjee.

[Eric] Thing about Banerjee
was he was easy to intimidate

because he can't
speak that well,

so he can't throw back
a fast retort,

and people behind his back
would call him an idiot,

make fun of the way
he would talk.

But Nick's fast with his mouth.

He could be
aggressive physically,

and he didn't mind
just tearing into Banerjee

or anybody that got in
his way. He was a bully.

Nick, take it away.

You know...

Men have always had their
sexual fantasies fulfilled on stage.

So we've got 10,000 years,

that we're trying
to make up for.

[Michael] People were
showing him respect,

and calling him the King
of Chippendales, you know,

he was the creator of this,
you know, phenomena.

And I could see changes in him.

Do you guys have any other
occupation besides Chippendale?

Well, an acting career,

and I myself, I'm into modeling.

- Besides Chippendales.
- [Nick] Oh, yeah,

we have school teachers,
an engineer.

[Michael] I saw him
stepping every time,

more and more into
the front of the camera

instead of just
letting us go on.

What does the job pay?

[Michael] You make
a high average living.

It's varies, it depends
when a guy starts,

he starts at the lowest rung
of the ladder...

[Michael]
It had to be him.

"These are my boys,
this is my creation."

[announcer] Let me ask
you about these characters,

where do the ideas
for your acts come from?

-Usually...
-[announcer] You're not letting

the Chippendale speak,
can these guys speak?

[Michael] I realized this
isn't the same Nick De Noia

that I knew in L.A.

Now this was a guy who thought

he was in control of everything.

And he was taking that power,
and turned it on the people

who had actually put him
there, like Steve Banerjee.

Nick was taking control away
from Steve little by little.

He was the front man,

and Steve had taken a backseat.

[Nick] What I see is the
most important entertainment

in the world for women.

Women have never had
this before.

[Michael] Nick had
to take the adulation

for what Steve Banerjee created.

"This is my creation."

[man] This administration
is determined

to make all-out war
against the evil people

who use drugs, and pornography

to prey on our families
and on our loved ones.

I believe there has been
and continues to be

a great hunger in America

for a moral
and spiritual revival...

- [music playing]
- All of you, with me.

At a time in this country
when modesty, decency

were just an accepted
principle of the American lifestyle.

♪ Well, I was born
an original sinner ♪

♪ I was borne
from original sin ♪

♪ And if I had
a dollar bill ♪

[Bruce] By the mid-80s, we
become such a huge presence

in popular culture.

Then we started getting
some backlash from people

who didn't like some
of the societal changes

that Chippendales
may have caused.

[man] Let's get a call.
Are you there? Hello.

[woman speaking]

[all laughing]

I understand that people have
their values and morals,

and they will read into it
what they want to read into,

you can't change
everybody's mind.

You're gonna leave, right?

- Yes.
- Because...

Well, it's just not my thing.

Well, if a few
of the women get together

and have a few giggles,
who is hurt?

I didn't know what was on today,

- or I wouldn't have...
- You're really gonna leave?

I'm leaving.

I think that
what people were thinking

was that this was a strip thing

that was going
to change the morals

and values of these housewives,

and women across America.

Are you ladies ready
to get wild?

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

Were the morals
and values skewed a bit

when someone came to the club?

Yeah, they were.

Did I think it was going to
change the morality of the country?

No.

My talking point always was,
you don't have to go.

You don't have to go
to the club, right?

You don't have to go buy
a calendar if it offends you.

Anyone ever questioned
the fact that, you know,

what you're doing
might be a little...

Well, it is different,
let's be honest, huh?

Yeah, you always can question
one way or the other,

but if you came down
to the club,

you can see how it's
set up, and you'll enjoy it,

so you're all invited.

[Dan]
But at some point,

I noticed that when I went
on the talk shows,

there was somebody religious
at the talk show.

There was somebody
there either inside

or outside protesting
what we were doing,

and that's sort of where
everything started to turn.

One woman calls on, how
can you put this junk on the air?

She said, the Bible says
that man's body

is this and that
and I'm... really...

[Bruce] The evangelical communities
were underwhelmed for sure.

They didn't like us,
we didn't care.

Satan is The Great Deceiver,

and he is the one that
is trying to deceive you

into believing
it's wonderful and good.

[Bruce] We weren't really
concerned about all that

until it was closer
to home here in L.A.

[sirens wailing]

[reporter] In the early
hours of this morning

yet another popular nightclub

has been the latest
establishment in Los Angeles

to be targeted and firebombed.

[Bruce] Several nightclub
in Hollywood

had started putting on nights
that feature male dancers.

Some of these clubs
started becoming

heavily vandalized
or firebombed.

Some people obviously didn't like
the idea of men stripping for women.

Steve was concerned because he
thought that we might be a victim.

So he beefed up security
at the club.

[man] All right,
do you want to see more?

[crowd cheering]

[Bruce] But despite
the fire bombings,

and all the noise being made
by the religious groups,

we were doing extremely well.

However, during
that period of time,

Steve and Nick's relationship
had gone into the toilet.

My job was to keep
motivating both of them

going forward and keeping
the partnership together.

But they wouldn't talk
to each other anymore.

It was sad, it was discouraging,

it was frustrating.

The modern term is toxic.

And in the end,

Steve threw Nick out
in New York.

[announcer] Joining me right
now is the man who conceptualizes,

and choreographs
a lot of the acts

that you've been
seeing this morning.

His name is Steve Merritt,

and please welcome him
to People are Talking.

- Hello, Steve.
- Hello, Steve.

[Candace] Steve Banerjee
hired a new choreographer,

Steve Merritt,
to create and choreograph

a brand new show for Los
Angeles, and for New York.

[upbeat music playing]

[announcer] In 1979,
Chippendales arrive in L.A.

In 1983 they arrive in New York.

Now, 1987 you've got the
welcome to your fantasy show

in New York City,
and you're striving

to create and achieve
a new image

for the Chippendales.
What is the new image?

Well, I'm dealing
with the sensuality,

I'm not dealing
with bump and grind,

you know, sexuality.
We're doing sensuality.

Steve Merritt changed
all the elements

that Nick had instituted.

Nick's characters, gone.

All interaction
with the audience, gone.

Nick was really, really angry.

[Eric] I was sitting
in manager's office one day

and De Noia just blows
into the office,

like a vampire
and accuses Banerjee,

in this accusing voice like,

"What are you doing
with my fucking show?"

And that's when Banerjee was
like, "Your, your, your show?

It's my, my fucking..."

And he couldn't get it out,
and couldn't express himself.

Nick would take everything
to the 10th level

of extreme anger
if you crossed him.

He would say, you know,
"Fuck you off, bro.

Don't fuck with me."

In essence,
Steve Banerjee thought

that if he can isolate Nick
away from New York and L.A.,

then Nick would fade away.

Hello?

[Eric]
But Nick had other ideas.

Here to do something
very special

on this section of the show,

and to help us, I'd like you
to meet Nick De Noia.

Nick is the producer
and director of Chippendale.

He's the guy
that hires the guys.

[crowd cheering]

[Eric] But the napkin deal

that Steve and Nick
worked out, said,

if Nick successfully
brought us to a New York club

then Nick would have
the exclusive license

to take Chippendales on tour.

Nick, tell them what you
just said during the break.

We're on tour
for the first time.

[crowd cheering]

[Eric] So, Steve
was stuck with Nick.

[Nick] And so, What we saw

was so funny is that
our club in New York,

women are flying in
from Chicago,

and Boston and St. Louis,
we finally said,

"Let's take it on the road,
let's bring it to the women."

So we're starting now.

[crowd cheering]

So, Banerjee had Los Angeles
and the New York club,

and Nick had to go out
on the road.

So, on tour, we billed ourselves

as the original Chippendales,

while New York and Los Angeles
remained the Chippendales.

Business arrangements
were fairly simple.

The venue would keep the bar,
and after expenses,

Nick and Steve,
split the ticket sales.

I thought it was a fair deal.

- What time? Eight o'clock.
- Doors open at six,

that's a lot of fun.
Come early.

[Candace] There's no
question that the tour

was an immense success.

The Los Angeles club
held 250 to 300,

New York held about 550 to 600.

However, on the road, we
were playing to crowds of 2,000.

Every single city we
went to, we were sold out

100% of the time.

[Bruce] As we started receiving
money from Nick for the tour,

the dollars
were exceeding the profits

that either of our fixed venues.

That frustrated Steve.

But when he signed
the napkin deal,

he gave away half of his rights

in a touring show
in return for New York.

He had no conception
about how valuable

those rights
would become someday.

And when he saw
how much 50% equaled

he began to think
he was suckered by Nick.

Has anybody seen our show?

What are the rest
of you waiting for?

Come on out, we're having
a ball out there.

De Noia hammered
down at the right time.

Got this fucking napkin
agreement signed.

I mean, an agreement on a napkin

to give away a piece
of his company for touring.

It's the most
unconscionable thing for him

to let this guy, legally
take part of his company away

and make millions of dollars.

[Candace] On the road,
Nick was to keep track

of the number
of tickets that we sold.

Half of the proceeds
after expenses

were to be sent back
to Banerjee.

But Steve didn't trust Nick.

So what Banerjee got,

he didn't think was
the right amount.

Nick felt that
he solely was behind

the immense success
of Chippendales.

But still, he had
to give up half of his door

to see Banerjee.

Why?

Because Nick's using
the word Chippendales,

and Steve owns the rights
to that name.

It just added to the animosity
between the two of them.

Steve was telling him
you're a cheater and a thief.

And it got to the point
where he not only

didn't need Banerjee anymore,

he didn't want to be
around Banerjee anymore.

[sirens wailing]

- [phone beeps]
- [woman speaking]

[man speaking]

- [man] Tonight...
- [woman] The male strip club Chippendales

- is the victim of a...
- [woman 2] The large caliber gun, perhaps a .45.

-[man 2] He was shot in the face.
-There was no sign...

[woman 4] No signs
of robbery, or struggle.