This article is about the nightclub and touring company. For the cartoon chipmunks, see Chip 'n Dale. Chippendales was a nightclub and then a touring company best known for erotic male dancing.
Origins
After operating a Mobil gas station and a failed backgammon club, Indian immigrant and entrepreneur Somen (Steve) Banerjee bought a failed Los Angeles club named "Destiny II" and turned it into a nightclub that featured female mud wrestling and a "Male Exotic Dancing Night." It was the first of its kind in the United States. His later partners were Paul Snider and Bruce Nahin, a young Los Angeles attorney.
Chippendales clubs were opened elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world, notably in such places as New York, London, Hamburg, Philadelphia, and Florida. Authorized shows also toured in the U.S., Asia, and Europe.
Banerjee and Nahin established a relationship with choreographer Nick DeNoia, who had won an Emmy Award directing children's shows in the early 1980s. DeNoia, talented and driven, recruited very attractive men. His intention was to do more than just provide the performance of a striptease, but to bring women's fantasies to life. DeNoia played a major role in the Chippendales success story. Banerjee and De Noia were the creative forces behind the company, while Nahin remained primarily behind the scenes as the firm's business force.
The financial split was 45 percent each for Banerjee and DeNoia and 10 percent for Nahin. The relationship between De Noia and Banerjee became tense and argumentative.citation needed
Legal problems
For Chippendales, the early 1980s were filled with major lawsuits pertaining to personal injury and racial discrimination.
In 1987, the company filed for bankruptcy and began reorganization. Also in 1987, Banerjee and DeNoia came into disagreement over touring rights to Chippendales. DeNoia sued Banerjee, claiming he had violated a term of their agreement, which entitled DeNoia to most of the control of such. Nahin testified on behalf of De Noia.
In April of that year, DeNoia was found slain in his New York City office, shot with a single bullet. In 1988 the original Chippendales in the Palms district of Los Angeles was shut down after losing its liquor license and fire permit. But the tours continued.
In 1990 and 1991, Banerjee, it was later charged, enlisted the aid of Ray Colon to help carry out a plot to kill Mike Fullington, a former Chippendales choreographer and a protege of DeNoia, and two other ex-Chippendales dancers. At the time the three were touring Great Britain, where they had joined the Adonis club, a competitor of Chippendales. But Colon turned out to be an FBI informant. In 1993, Banerjee was indicted on counts of conspiracy and attempting to hire a hitman.
Banerjee's bail was denied, due to testimony by Colon that Banerjee had said he intended to pay a private pilot $25,000 to fly him back to India without a passport, or to commit suicide if he were arrested. Soon after, the charges were expanded to include the hired hit of DeNoia.
Banerjee eventually pleaded guilty to attempted arson, racketeering, and murder for hire. He entered into a plea agreement that would have led to 26 years in prison, loss of his share of the Chippendales parent company, and most of his estate.
Death of the owner
In the early morning of October 23, 1994, hours away from his sentencing, Banerjee's body was found hanging in his cell.
Because he died before his trial was completed, the entirety of his share in the Chippendales corporation and his estate were passed on to his wife. Irene. who thereafter sold the company to the current owner, Chippendales USA. Irene died of breast cancer in the early 2000s.
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