Real Time Crime to the Mainstage

I was gonna ask. I figured that's where the voice was coming from. It looks like you're still out. You're like, why you're in a pitch black room, your backstage at a nightclub like she's at the chipping Dale. We're going to discuss. I can't understand what, Like it's daylight here, you see, I mean sometimes throwing dollar bills around? Sorry, what what are you doing? I feel like you have a crystal ball in tarot cards in front of you. What is happening? You guys are roasting the ship out

of me. They need to see the clip of I mean, all I see of you is your face. Everything else it's black. I'm at the I'm at the hotel. Almost disclosed my location, but you know, bad, naughty Lea. I'm at a hotel in Austin. I'm here for south By Southwest. I've been doing two shows a night every night. Um, very tired. But why was I out until five am? You ask? I don't know. Does my ex live in Austin? Maybe we know it's coming? What this is worse? We

had a very own conversation that included no sex. Was just both of us crying, holding each other, telling each other how much we meant to the other. First, I'm sorry, I'm I respected it when I thought it was just south By south Sex, but now it's Yeah. I was fine with just the tips, but hugging and crying over missing one another, like did you guys break up? Originally? Um? The truth is he's mentally ill in a way that

isn't funny. But wow, that sounds like a lot of fun. Well, I hope you can go over and cuddle together again tonight. I can't believe we were just told that Leah's X, someone she used to date, is mentally ill and we can't touch that and we have to just leave it. Someone that's more mentally ill than me if you can imagine, Well, was he the sole one crying and holding him at for a him or were you doing the same. I'm just gonna say he cried first. This isn't chipped for chat.

Men usually not for chat. And I need just send me a text of what he looks like real quick. I just need a full visual before we, you know, we get into all the things. And also I'll just say this, Um, I did another complete crime the other day where I was at an event where I had a show, and I told these two guys, I said, I'll be right back, can you guys watch my bag? And then they did, and then I was gone for

an hour and I just assumed they left. You know, I was just like whatever, whatever, what was in it? I mean, everything that I needed any This is extremely unsettling to the one that has been derailed since you lost her Fannie pack, the fact that you just just willy nearly left your bag with somebody for an hour, just free falling it without your bag on purpose. Yeah. Well, it's like, you know, someone came into the room that I wanted to talk to and Mark Cuban and then

you're like, oh, is he rich? Has a head shot married check check check. Let me get over there. I already emailed him. I was like, let's play pickle ball next week. Um, teddy, you're welcome to joint. And UM, I also just sent you a photo of my ex by the way. Um. And then when I came back to my bag, these guys we're like, are you insane? Are you meant? Are you mental? You left your bag with two strangers for an hour. This guy literally started yelling at me. I was like, okay, Dad, I'm sorry.

You know, uh mind when you send me pictures of your ex to not send them with his girlfriend after you, because it confuses my my sight. She's actually the girlfriend before me, and we do look very similar. Good, That's what I'm saying. I don't sending it. Well. The other thing about her x is he has a type. He has a very obvious tife. Why does the excello crazy as well? I honestly thought Leo was in these pictures.

Here's the thing. You don't have that much time to do hot topics, But there is one hot topic that I really do want to talk about before we have on. J. D. Schwartz, who is the producer of Chippendales and that incredible documentary. But the hot topic I want to talk about is

what's going on with Jesse. Okay, great, Okay. So, after Jesse Smaillett was sentenced a hundred and fifty days in jail and thirty months of probation for staging a hate crime against health, the former Empire star is at the center of a free Jesse campaign, with fellow actors speaking out.

Alfrey ordered Samuel Jackson and his wife and more previously asked Illinois Judge James B. Lynn asked to not sentenced Smollett to prison time, and a letter written to the judge, Jackson wrote that Smollett comes from a good family that can provide the support and monitoring assistance that they can provide for him in an alternative probation scenario. The pulp fiction star continued, Jesse has already suffered a great deal of punishment as this situation has destroyed his existing career

and impugned his reputation. Please, Judge Lynn, in God's name, please save this young man and allow him to be of service. Jesse Smollett is worth the risk and the investment. Smollett was sentenced on March tenth after falsely alleging in two thousand nineteen that he was attacked by two men using racist and homophobic slurs. Jesse also opened he says he is not suicidal, so if he ends up dead, you guys know what happened. Um Tara g P. Hinson

later issued an Instagram statement condemning the sentence. I am not here to debate you on the innocence, but can we agree that the punishment does not fit the crime? Henson wrote. Emmett Till was brutally beat and ultimately murdered because of a lie, and none of the people involved with his demives spent one day in jail, even after Caroline Briant admitted that her claims were false. No one was hurt or killed during Jesse's ordeal. He has already

lost everything everything, Hinson continued to me. As an artist not able to create, that in itself is punishment enough. He can't get a job, No one in Hollywood will hire him again, and as an artist who loves to create, that is prison. My prayers that he is freed and put on house arrest and probation, because in this case that would seem fair. Please free Jesse and then Gabrielle Union, Leslie Jordan among others have liked this. What are y'all

thoughts on this? I thought that it would be a lot more powerful if Samuel L. Jackson didn't write a letter but used his voice m the Capital One commercial. Yeah, here's here's the thing. The reason he doesn't have his career is because of something that he did. So in that respect, I don't think that's a good argument. But also, and that same thing didn't didn't we find out that he had to go into some sort of mental ward recently, Like, isn't probably the reason he did what he did was

allegedly because of some sort of mental illness. Well then he should be said, they should be sentenced into some health care facility like that. But I don't think it's a matter of oh, well, listen, he didn't, you know what, he lost his career. That's good enough because technically he's still denying it as well. So if he needs help, acent let's get him help. But I don't think it's just allright, well, he shouldn't have to serve anything because

he lied to police. He calls a bunch of resources and time and the and all that you know to be spent on this, so I don't think it's a matter of just well, all right, come on, yeah. I don't agree with the house arrest aspect of it. If you do a crime, you do a crime. However, if there is mental health involved, I do think that that type of facility should be the alternative. I agree. And if you do the crime, you do the time. I'm like,

you have to get it in every time. But speaking of time, we have to take a little break because guests, who's here? Oh my god, our guest. I just want to really quickly say, Jesse, if you want to come back to the art world, the stand up comedy community, except literally everyone, So welcome back to the art world. If you want to write some jokes while you're in prison, come join us after all, right, back to you, all right, we'll be right back. Yeah, okay, everyone. I am super

excited to introduce our guest for today. This is J. D. Schwartz. He's a former producer of Chippendale's but now brings extensive public relations experience and the professional zeal of an aggressive New Yorker. So do I to his approach of doing publicity.

He has a collector roster of clients, but he is best known for his personality representation UM and you know, he originally achieved a lot of success in theater in New York and he is here with us today to talk about the secrets of the Chippendale's murders and also just Chippendale's in general. So it's incredible. It's a four docuseries, it's on A and E, it's on Monday nights, and

it unveils the shocking story behind the Chippendale's empire. And a Chippendal's was a nightclub that aimed to allure and please women with its scantily clad mail dancers and vivacious music, and quickly advanced toward a pop culture phenomenon until it

came crashing down. Through exclusive interviews never before seeing crime scene video and declassified FBI surveillance audio, the special unravels the hidden tale of how sex, jealousy, arson, hefty bags filled with cash, and mafia shakedowns all led up to one of the most outrageous murders in American history. And

you know, it's incredible. I just think that you need to tune in a SAP a SAP, especially because you're listening to this podcast, it's gonna be even more interesting after getting a little more information behind the scenes and especially what the club was all about before the murders. Hi, Ja, how are you good? How are you so good? We're really glad to have you here. Hi, thank you, thank you for having me appreciate it just before we start.

So you know, you know, and I've been trying to explain this, but the murders, that's what this documentary is about. But that's not what Chippendales was about. The murders happened after the huge success and the craziness and the phenomenon of Chippendales. I opened and ran Chippendales in New York in I did all the hiring, the firing, and the guy was murdered. He was my boss. So I just want to give you that background here. The phenomenal success of the club. It was a cash business, so it

just boiled down to greed. You're taking money from me, You're stealing from me. What do you mean, you're taking the show on the road. You know. It all came down to that. But that's all happened after the fact. When we opened this club in New York. It was the hottest thing in New York everybody. It was a studio fifty four in US. Okay, So just a backtrack a little bit, when you brought how were you brought in originally to produce Chippendales and what exactly does that mean? Okay?

So I was working for a Broadway producer. We had a big hit show on Broadway called Hurley Burley. Bill heard Chris Walking, Suzie Kurds Synthonics and it was a big deal. His fiance Barbara, who was also in the documentary, she was a club promoter. The owner of Magic, which was the club that Chippendales went into, called Barbara and said, Hey, we're opening this club. You know we're going into it. Not a club we're opening. We're bringing Chippendales to our club.

Would you come in and work to help us open the club? Hurley Burley was a huge hit on Broadway. So she said, well, I can't do it. I love spend our assistant to go. And you know, I didn't want to go because the entertainment business is where I was. I was working on a Broadway producer's office. I went reluctantly, and she said just go and then you'll come back,

you know, after the club is open. So I went and I met with Nick, who was the guy who got murdered, who, by the way, you have to tell me, like how honest and and Frank I can be here as possibly can be. We love it because he was a dick. Nobody liked him, I mean and especially me. He treated me horribly. Think of Harvey Weinstein and Scott Ruten. That's who this guy was. He was just an ego, an egomaniacal son of a bit. We called him Nick the dick Um. He was one of Jennifer O'Neill's eight husbands.

He was in the closet and and the marquis in front of the club said Magique presents Chippendales conceived, written, produced and directed by Nick Denia. Because he wanted all the credit for everything, and he just treated people very, very poorly. So I went met him at a restaurant on Broadway called Jrs. And we went, we had dinner, and I said, okay, I would do this, not knowing what really what this was. I had no idea what

chipping Dales was. I was twenty five years old. I was out of college, you know, I was working in a press office up for Broadway shows, and I really didn't know what this was. But I was also in a really good situation in the Broadway office I was working in because I was hanging out. There's a restaurant in New York City called Cafe Centro. So I was hanging out every night with Chris wall In and Danny

Iello and Bruce Willis. And this is the New York actors that came into this restaurant every night to hang out. So I was a part of that. So I was really very reluctant to give up sort of my entree to go work in a club would like, who wanted to go work in a club? Um? And so what did it? Though? So what made you my? But so my job was, um, I did all the hiring, I

did all the firing. I was in charge of anything and everything that made this show happen, from when we started that summer, you know, to them rebuilding the club, two the rehearsals, to you know, models would come in all the time, and and you know, to get jobs you have to be six feet tall. You had to take your shirt off, which was a very uncomfortable thing for me. To say to another guy, take your shirt off. But that was the job because you had to look

you know, you have to be ripped. You have to look at a certain way. Nowadays it's like, oh, take your shirt off, you know I need to see or even after I got into it, i was, oh, you know, it's part of the job. It's like it's it's not a big deal. In Hollywood nowadays, guys go to auditions without their shirts to begin with, and the audition usually happens in my bedroom. But to go back, even before you started, So it started with Steve Banergy founding at

the beginning of the club, So the club. Steve Banergy was an immigrant from India who came here with an American dream. He bought He realized that discos were a big deal in New York, so he figured it would work its way out to l A. He bought this old chess club if you can believe there were chess clubs on Overland in you in West l A. And he wanted to turn it into a disco. This guy named you might have heard of him, Paul Snyder, who

was married to Dorothy Stratton, the movie star eight. He was based on that came into the club and said, Steve, what you need to do is make us a mile Strip club, and you know, I'll help you here and I'll be your MC. What Paul was kind of a guy that like he was a wanna be you know, like I'll be your m C. And he had no clue on how to be an MC. He could barely you know, get you know. Um. But his kind to fame was that he married Dorothy Stratton and then killed

her and then killed himself. Um. So after yeah, after Steve fired Paul, he met Nick. Nick came into the club and Nick said, oh, I could do this. I'll you know, a show out of this, you know Nick again, So I told you he was in the closet one of Jennifer and YO husband's right. Yes, was a Z list director. He had a dear cut, you know, didn't even my right. I'm not saying other people felt like I failed, although I'm sure they did, But this is how I felt of how he treated me. This is

my truth. So I don't have anything nice to say about him. You know, it's terrible to say anybody deserves to be murdered. M Well, I have a question, who is it that negotiated the deal with Hugh Hefner that Chippendales was allowed to have the custom collars. I don't know. That was before me. I came in as there, you know, I came into New York. All this other stuff I knew about, but I wasn't there for it, like the

Napkin deal that Steve and and and Nick didn't. By the way I was telling about Nick, he had a production company, a children's production company, mind you, called Unicorn Tails, and he won two Emmy's, but again way before me. And then turns out that he's in the closet and he's, you know, heading up a mail strip, just saying he's a busy guy. Take away from that which you choose to we call we call that we range in the business.

He he he made it. So when he went into he went to dinner with Steve and they were negotiating, and I don't know what Nick had asked for, but Steve had said no, and then Steve had said, Nick had said, okay, well then I want all touring rights in perpetuity. Steve didn't even know what the word perpetuity meant, um, you know, because obviously he wasn't from here. But he he said, okay, fine, he wasn't worried about the you know, a tour. It's like it's a club we're opening, you know,

like touring wasn't even a thing to think. He said, I just got to get these chess pieces out of here and the dancers in um. And so that's how that's really what this came down to. Greed again. But as you'll see as the story goes on, you know he owns the club. Well, I created the club. You know, it's my show. No, it's my show. And there was cash being taken out of the club, at least in the New York club. I mean, do you want me

to continue here or do you a new way? I mean, we're we're loving hearing you, Chad, And I'd also love to hear your about your relationship with Steep Energy. Yeah. I was gonna say, actually, wow, he really creat to me. So okay, So where I am with this? What was I just saying to you? Um, you were saying about the about the right they agreed on the rights for the traveling shown asking right wrote that off he did? It was like not not a thing right, because he

didn't understand that Um, he did open the club. You know, the club was open. He did come in. And the good the one good thing that I will say about Nick. He was a creative person, so I knew this from New York since he was never going to be a director on Broadway self. Admittedly, he knew that he wanted to make this show his Broadway show. So we had a box office. You could buy tickets to t t kts. You had to make reservations. Um. We had a lighting designer,

We had a choreographer. We had costumes, albeit very slim costumes. We had costumes. Um, and the last time there was an act, there were five acts. We had backup dancers. Um. We had a costume girl, you know, taking care of things this show, like I had to. He found a tailor because when I'd hire a guy, you know, you had to get fitted for your black spandex pants. So

I needed a tailor. This is Do you ever see the Shark Starsky and Hutch a huggy bear the shirt open with the gold chains and the hat and the feathers, and you thought he was a pimp. That was my my tailor. His name was Jerry Man Desire. Is that his real name this is. I called him Jerry and that's what it said on his card. And mind you, I'm K five, I'm recently out of college. I'm working in the workforce a little bit. I had no clue. Even with the El Dorado parked in front of the

club with the girls inside, I had no clue. Seriously went right over my head because I pick up the front. Jerry, where are you? You need to be here. I need you to measure the new guys that came in well, and I saw in the first episode that these guys would end up kissing What was it like over tip? Kissing tip? You can't do that today, I mean, especially in a pandemic, you can't today. Were they also actually having sex with people? Yes? Yes, So New York Club

much bigger deal than the l A Club. They rebuilt the club. There's a V I P Room upstairs. And so here's how it went. Six o'clock doors open, all the bridge and tunnel, you know, a bridge and tunnel from New York Bay to all the bridge and tunnel. Uh. People would come into the club. Um, I would have to when I hire. You had to be six street tall and you had to be wrecked that was the requirement for me to hire. You are any of these guys straight and single and still alive? Yes, well, yes,

still alive. But another misconception though all these years, everybody thought that all of us who worked in the club are gay, which is not the cast where we were straight are straight. But were there gay guys in the club? Yes, the backup dancers that we had, all but one we're gay, A couple of our tenders, maybe a waiter here and there. But my point of this is is we were a brotherhood inside this club. It didn't matter like we were living in this bubble and it was all happening like

around us. So we were all there together for when it didn't matter who was gay, who was straight. This it was before AIDS so sex. Yeah, so I'll explain that to you now, Doors open sex. I understands it pretty well. Um my parents keep meaning to have this conversation if you could fill me in. Nobody ever had that conversation with me ever to figure it out on my own. Um, Um, doors would open it. So when I hired these guys, I'd have to give out you know, handouts.

You know, this is the this Chippendales Chippendales is Disneyland for ladies. You know, this is the rules of a host, of a waiter. This is your job. So the idea was, and again I give this credit to Nick, when a woman walked into that club, it didn't matter what her ethnicity was, what she looked like, how tall, how big, house short, It didn't matter. When you start talking to a woman, she's the only person and that you see you treat her like she is a queen. She is

the one nobody else can get into this conversation. It's just you and her. Is this any woman or any woman? Any woman an additional No, any any woman. There was no additional fee. This is what you were when you walked into the club. Okay, so you start and an

alcohol started to be served at six o'clock. So you have six hundred women with all these great looking guys, and and did I guess I didn't send you any pictures or I have a little sizzle reel too, because I had, which I'll also tell you I wanted to I sold this my story, not the murder story, my story of what I'm about to tell you happened in the club because I wanted to do a television show based on this um. So the women would come in

and start drinking. Show starts at eight o'clock. You have all these great looking guys in the club, you know, just catering to all of these women. Show starts at eight. Show happens. What the show is is different guys would come out and do their act after, Like the first act was the Unknown Flasher. The second act I think was Cone in the Barbarian. We had a construction site. And then the big the big act was the Perfect Man.

They were taking bits and pieces from all the guys who worked in the club and like a mad scientists was creating the perfect man. And then our perfect man would come and there's a great looking dude named Michael rath Um. And then the backup dancers would do so after they would do their act, the lights would come up, their music would start playing, and the hosts and waiters

would sit around the club. Because this was interactive. It wasn't like a an oval stay, you know, an oval dance floor, you know with the stage in the bath and the waiters and hosts would you know, hold up five, you know a fifty or five or ten a dollar over the guy over the woman's head and the guys would come over and kiss them. You know, it would be like a ton selectomy that was going on. So I also have a question. I know that like now for customary strip clubs, women can attend even if it's

like could men attend? In addition, here was the thing. Men were not allowed in Okay until it went to the state looker board. Somebody made a complaint and they were going to take the liquor license away. This is right after we opened, and they, you know, said we'll shut you down if you don't allow men in. So they allowed men in to go and sit up in the VIP room, which was above. It was in the

back of the club looking down over the club. Um, and it was you know, two side a glass, so like you couldn't see in, but they could see out. So that took took care of of that. Um. But remember now you have six hundred horny, drunk women in this club. By ten o'clock. Ten o'clock, the club reverts back to magic. The doors open and down the city block, two ways down the city lock. You have lines of guys coming in to get laid because easy easy going

on there. The women in the club when they wanted to hook up with any of the guys in the club during the show. Well, there are no men in the club, so the men's room is available, isn't it. Wow to the mendroom. And while you're in there, Jose, who's the valet? And then I was also dealing club, which there was a lot of coat going on and it's a nice final touch. Yeah, and the customary mints

and gum and whatnot. I'm sure, yeah, but you know, and I say that this was because it was so you asked me, and I started, I didn't want to go. Now I'm there, I'm the boss, I'm running this place. I'm twenty five years old. I have all these guys working for me. There's women galore in this club. Everyone's getting laid left and right, And why wouldn't I want to be there? It was just a great place to be, but it was a disney. It was a great place to be until it wasn't a great place to be.

So when how many years was it successful? Like going well things? Nobody was getting cyanide shots. You know that? That again way after and that wasn't New York. That was l a okay, Um, it was so we opened October in New York. The money that was coming in was so much by the guys coming in the club and the women drinking. It was cash. The owners used to take out cash in big hefty bags out the side door and put them in the trunks of their

cars in the garage. So I tell you that just to remind you that when we get to the murder part, it's, Oh, it's all going to come back to the money here, because there's no there's no accounting of how much did well real like I had to do an audit. I was called to testify for the l A Club, for Steve Energy and for the New York Club, which is where I worked with these guys. I was a witness for both sides, which I still don't understand how that worked.

Um just really just really quickly at the club's peak, how much money, if you had to guess, was actually coming through every night? Oh, I don't know, I honest, I don't even remember what it costs to get in. I don't remember, But I do know that that place was packed every night. I remember as a kid driving through in my parents car, like we'd we'd be going through the city, and we'd see danger Fields, and we'd see Chippendale's and and the crowds outside both of them

were just outrageous. And and I remember thinking, oh, you know what, when I grew up. It turns out at that time I was only five eleven, so I went in a comedy instead of stripping one more sometimes, Dmitri and you could have really, yeah, well now I'm six ft, but now I don't. I'm not ripped, so you know what could have been? Um? So, so, yeah, so that's what happened withinside this club. Um if you I left in five and I moved out to l A and Jen, did you work for the club out here? No? No,

I got back into publicity. M hmm, Okay, I'm sorry. I just gonna ask a quick question. I feel like there's something that everyone wants to know. And if you're working at the most I mean, powerful, well known, well attended strip club in New York or l A Chippendale's, right, what is I'm sure you've seen and heard everything. Is there any sort of night or moment that stood out to you that was the wildest thing you've seen at this club? And yeah, one night I heard in the

locker room. There was a bathroom in the locker room and these two women. I think this had to be like after the show, and these two women were there and she said, I just got funned by this I from Brooklyn. And the other woman said, well, I just gave a blowjob to this guy from Queens and said things like boughs. Yeah. Um. I remember us going to the roof of the club, you know, during the summer, and taking women up to the roof of the club to have sex and perform all kinds of different acts.

And what I remember most about one of the most memorable things about this is the Roosevelt Tram came right over the club, so we would be looking up at the people in the tram as the people in the cham we're looking down at what it's going and what we were doing. You know. I tell people like so when I wanted to sell my this is a show. This is a show, right. This is what made Shipping Dales.

The phenomenon is what happened inside the club. I termed as breaking Bad meets mad Men, like the characters of Men of mad Men and the craziness of Breaking Bad, except you're not having meth is a backdrop, you've got sex, drugs and rock and roll as the backdrop. You have Chippendale strippers. Um, this was just a time. That was the thing that I said, hire a writer, Hire your best writer. Let him come up with all kinds of stories of things that you think might have happened in

this club, and give me your best story. I'll beat that tent. There's the truth is stranger than fiction here. So even though at the beginning, when you guys were all there and Nick and and Energy have the conversation, they're not worried about towards you know, it's in the back of his mind. Tours ultimately start to happen. Yeah, so what what what had happened? They eight? Everybody was fighting.

As I said, nobody really along with Nick. So the l a Uh, Steve didn't talk to him, The New York people didn't talk to him, and it was me. I was in the middle because they would only talk to me, and then he would only talk to me to deliver messages to them. It was really like childish when Steven. When Nick wanted to come back to l A like to take a couple of days to come home, he had to have permission from the New York Club to leave, so that he was still going to be

getting paid. I had to write those letters and get them signed off on for his permission. But when he wanted so he wanted out. He wanted to take the tour clause the guys and do a tour and go out on the road. So I had a right letter. I had a type individual letters because no computers back then, and and send into all the hotels in Vegas and Atlantic City. And I sent a letter to Showtime. Showtime wasn't what showed Time is today. It was more of a novelty, you know, for specials um and I still

have all of those letters that I wrote. And so he wanted out. At that point, I had a big blow up with Nick and so I left. In eighty five, I moved here. Um So when he was murdered, I got a call that night and I was actually at a red carpet on a red carpet with my partner at that time, Nancy Ryder, and with our client Michael J. Fox. We had a big opening up at Universal Studios. There

was no city walk at the time. You know, you could drive right up in front of the movie theaters, and so I was there, I got home, I got to call J Did you hear that Nick at killed? And I like, the first thing out of my mouth was wasn't me? And so nobody knew who it was. But the point of that it wasn't me, it was like it could have been any guys, you know, he had enough enemy But did everyone kind of think it

was Steve energy behind it all? Really, no one really thought that they thought it was the mafia hit or I don't know, because again I was here and I was far away from that, but I never heard anything about Steve. But when I found out it was Steve, it all made sense to me. I understood because I knew of the greed, I knew of the money. I knew that Nick wanted to leave, and so how that happened?

So Steve put a hit out on Nick. He had a guy go into his office in mid tom Manhattan, walk up to Nick at four o'clock in the afternoon, come right up to him, put a gun to his head, and and kill him. So I have an ignorant question, how do you just find someone to put a head

out on? He was evidently a bad guy, and he knew people, okay, mind you had I known the day that I was yelling at Steve on the phone saying, this is the arrogant New Yorker I didn't get my cod pieces back, the light up cod pieces right, and the cups and college some of the well what's the matter with you people in l A? Are you stupid? Did the sun turn your brains to mush? Why haven't

I gotten this? Thinking back now, I probably shouldn't have yelled at him because he could have been and yeah, and yeah, the sun does turn our brains to most Yeah. I think he was like, I can't kill him that of course, But again the Arrogan twenty five year old New Yorker or I won't say Arrogan, I'll say a rest uh New Yorker. But and Steve, he used to just show up at the club he was where he'd wear a dark brown suit and sandals and he would just show up in the club before the show would start,

um to check on his investment. But he would always take me to lunch or dinner with his wife and chill drin. You know, he was a really nice guy to me. I didn't know that he was a murderer. I didn't know that he had other clubs here at the very beginning before New York set on fire, because he didn't want uh competition, I mean with a dark

brown suit and sandals and probably figured something. And you remember the big you were, you know, a tie, but they were like the wide the white tie, so like the knot was really wide, you know, and the tide was really you know, it was a wide tie also. And then I read this article in the Sun that he hired, you know, an assassin nicknamed Strawberry, and he would have people go and inject these other dancers. I think there's just that one. It was just that one.

It was just that one. So that story. So after Nick was killed, nobody knows who did this, two of the dancers from the l A Club wanted to leave and go open and go do it and start a tour in England. Steve found out about it. He hired this guy and I don't know, you know, this was after I left, so this is all me hearing after

the fact. But he hired this guy to fill up a vizine bottle full of cyanide so he can traveled with it on the plane go to England, and he was gonna supposed to go up to the guys and they go, how are you, and you know, give him a hug and and and stab him in the neck with the you know, with sinaide, you know, like a little bit needle um. But the guy that that Steve hired was an FBI and forman, so Steve got caught.

He went to prison. While he's in prison, he makes a deal with the FEDS saying, I will admit to having Nick Denoia killed, which was the first time anybody knew that he was involved. It's probably except for the people who actually did the murder um, but they weren't even questioning him on that at that point. He and my kids, you know, they can't lose the house and

they have to be protected. So they make the deal, signed the deal in his prison cell or wherever they in a room, and he goes back to his cell. The next morning that he had to go and appear in front of a judge to get sentenced. When they went to his jail cell to get him, they found him hanging in his jail cell. He committed suicide, and

that was so that his family could keep the club. Right. Well, I don't know if it was keeping the club, but like they wouldn't lose the house, they wouldn't lose the money. You know, I've heard that, you know, Steve had put money away in Swiss banks for for his family. But I don't know, you know, right, because if you're not sent in than nothing really changes. But the other thing was I mean, it's all the kind of devastating. I mean, it seems like Steve Bannergy was a really twisted guy.

Successful but willing so competitive and willing to murder to make sure that he, you know, didn't have any competition and or anyone that gotten his way was not his way anymore. But you know that seems almost like a noble deed to make sure that your family is taken care of. Yeah, in the end, yeah, he was. Look he in my experience with him personally, he was very attentive to his wife and kids. You know, like I said,

he was nice to me. But I think you have to you learn very very quickly as you're in that bubble, right, So he learned very quickly the the money game so much so fast that now you have to be looking around, you know, who's stealing for me? What is this I have to pay attention to this, this, this, and you know when it came down to the Chip Nails calendars, Steve is the person who hand picked each guy in

that calendar. And he refused to put anybody in the New York Club in the calendar because he said they he said they were ugly, you know they were, they weren't as good looking as the guys in l A. So he had his hand in every single thing that went on. So you become paranoid, you you go to you, I would assume you want to protect your interests. So if he felt that Nick was stealing from him, which I'm sure he did by taking money out of his pocket by taking on a touring show, what do you

mean touring show? What touring thing? Will you signed it in perpetuity? What does perpetuity mean? You know, I didn't know anything about a tour because when he signed this Napkin deal, there really was no There was no tour. It was it was about it getting a club up

and running. Who was thinking tour? And Leah to your point of him being like looking out for his family and this and that he probably felt as he when people were stealing for him from him or he felt that he probably felt like they were stealing from his wife and his kids, and that was their money as well. So I imagine that probably falls into the same, you know,

defensive thing. And I just read something that his son is now a stripper, yes, you know, which I'm sure Steve were not have been happy about starting stripping Dales, Yes, stripping. That's actually look the other the other thing I think of why Chippendale's was such a success. And again this was Nick's thing because he'd say this all the time. The it wasn't back then it was you know, oh a strip club. You know, guys going to a sleazy bar and and you know, women take off all their clothes.

This wasn't like that. Nick wanted this to be more burlesque, like Gypsy rose Lee, is what he would say, because there's more erotica in your imagination than an actually seen It's like, you know, it's the build up, it's the build d what is it going to be? What is it gonna be? Oh my god, it's more of that rather than the afro just come and take your clothes. There's there's a show, there's a story around it. And

I think that's what really made the club. You know, it wasn't branded as sleeves, you know, it was it was entertainment. It was a show. I remember you said, he said Nick what he used to call Nick the Dick. Now in the movie Back to the Party with Tom Hanks, they went to a Chippendale's tead club and somebody was just They said, is that Nick or Mr Dick? So now I used to think I was just they went with the rhyme. But now I wonder if that was

an homage to your guy Nick. Maybe I can't if I told you some of the things that he did in that club. I mean, it's just you know, thinking you can't say and talk to people like that today, but back then you shouldn't talk to people like that, you know. Like I remember one one afternoon the two things I tell you the day that the Mafia came into the club. I was downstairs, um and I'm talking a couple of the guys, and these two guys came in and again the aggressive New York is like can

I help you? You know, I was like, yeah, we're here to collect, to collect what you know, almost like saying who the are you? Like what are you doing here? And they said we're here to collect and it took me like maybe half a second to realize who they were. I'm like, oh, you need to see the guys upstairs, and I knew who who they were. And then one afternoon with Nick. This is just one of the examples,

UM I have him. You know, he had to like improve everybody, like I bring guys out, Okay, take your shirt off. And so we were downstairs in front of a lot of people and Nick stood there like this and he went delicious. Let's say, oh, you know that's just disgusting. Yeah, that is also Jay. I'm so sorry we are running out, and I'm sorry I started this

all on no notes and I apologize. Please tell everybody where they can find more information about you on this story, because I know that we don't want this to be over and everyone's gonna want more. All my social Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are at j A Y D A S C H W A R t Z J D Schwartz and that's where we're posting and and and you'll see awesome pictures and whatnot. And I'll see if I can just send you some stuff for you to look at that you might find amusing. Oh yeah, please do

and would love that. And congratulations on the show, if you know, congratulations is the appropriate word. And then also we hope that your personal show gets picked up. Thank you very very much, and the show as Monday nights on Annie, Monday Nights and Annie, We've already watched all four episodes and I'll just I'll just tell you the audience, you must watch this. This is a must see. Every minute is exciting, excruciating, wild Thank you, well, thank you guys.

Have a good one by day. Thank you. Yeah, that was incredible, so good. I love was like can I be direct, Like, oh my god, so you guys have to make sure that you tune in two Secrets of the Chippendale Murders. So good, Annie. I think the thing that was most eye opening from that documentary was seeing what you could bring on an airplane. They were like, so we brought our guns and our heroine across the country and like what It's so good. But I know

we have to wrap for today. So we have a couple of things that we need to discuss very quickly, one of which is Anna Deelvie is being deported to Germany. Yeah, you know that was not as as important as what is coming next. UM, I am going to take a quote out of out of our last guests. Can I be direct as possible? Please? Teddy, please be direct. Today is my last day co hosting on Real Time Crime. I am so sorry, you guys. I love Leah and sometimes Dmitri and all of you guys sometimes or love

sometimes to make where's the comma father? Um? It depends on the day. UM. I Originally when I signed up with you guys, I had more time to be perfectly honest, and I thought that I could manage it all. And it's just gotten to a place where I'm doing so many different podcasts for two teas in a pod, and then there's this in my family and my actual business, and I just feel like I can't dedicate the amount

to crime that I want to. So from here on out, it's gonna have to be me tuning in listening for these updates to get all of the crombs, because you guys are incredible. I can't wait to hear the upcoming episodes and thank you for letting me be a part of it for this portion. And if there's ever like a really super juicy case that you know, that i'd be obsessed with you know where to find me? And can we also have you if you do happen to commit a crime? Can we have the exclusive? Yes we can,

would you know what? Let's hope I don't, but we can't make any Well, this is a crime Teddy leaving the podcast, so we do have the exclusive on it. And Teddy, we're gonna miss you so much. Um. You know, I'm not a very sentimental person, but you did cry last night, so you could cry again. If she's probably tapped out handed. Um, yeah, I'm all cried out, but I um, I. We love you so much and we're so grateful that you were able to join us for

the first leg of this journey. And you know that if there is any sort of crime related to the Housewives, you're coming on immediately. We're so proud of you, and we're so excited about two teas and how successful the show has gotten. And we'll miss you very much. Thank you so much, and uh, I can't wait to hear all of the other upcoming crams coming out. And you're comedy and you guys, I know, well we'll talk off here, but we'll talk. I love all of you guys, thank

you so much and do your song. We and we need one well. And I just want to let the listeners know we're going to have a bunch of very interesting and special guests lined up. No one will be able to fill teddy shoes obviously, sorry to everyone that now knows that information that comes on the podcast, but but we will. We will have a lot of really interesting crime experts, other crime podcast hosts that you probably know and love if you're true crime obsessed, other very

well known comedians coming on here, and special guests. I have a friend who's in the n f T community, who's in ann who's coming on. So that's gonna be super exciting. So stay tuned because while Teddy is leaving us, the podcast is not dead, okay um. And if you want to leave us a voicemail, you know, just me and sometimes and then and then sometimes sometimes Teddy. You never know, you just never know. Make sure to call in. Yeah,

eight six six twenty one crime. That's eight six six twenty one crime eight six six to any one time. It's eight six six two and two seven four six three And you can find me at Leo Lamar l A E A H. L. A M A R R on All Things on the Internet, TikTok five hours, don't ask why, And if you want to find out show dates Leo Lamar dot com or my Instagram. And Teddy, where can we find you on the Internet? You can find me at Teddy Melling camp or on two Teas

and a Pod or all in by Teddy. I wonder if sometimes sometimes Teddy is available on sometimes sometimes Toady it's going to work it out, and sometimes Dmitri is still not sometimes Dmitri on Instagram, So don't bother following him right, just as Dmitri pappis his name. All right, We love you guys, Stay safe, don't commit any crimes. See you next week. It's real time crop it real time grop mean, is it actually real time crime? I'm solving anything or is that just the thing we say?

It's a thing, we say, got it? Okay, See you next week for more real time crime, only on I horor radio.