My dad was guilty of ‘Chippendales Murder’ and now I strip to make money
14.03.2022 - 15:19
/ nypost.com
Strippendales, in early 2020. Unlike his dad who was in on the business side, Banerjee is also the gyrating talent. But behind his family legacy — the G-strings and glossy camp veneer of the ’80s beefcake phenomenon — is a bloody tale of greed, arson, FBI informants and murder.
A new four-part docuseries, “Secrets of the Chippendales Murders,” which premieres Monday on A&E, explores the twisted history of franchise. As his nightclub, which was crawling with shirtless men in bowties and cuffs, became a huge draw in LA, Banerjee hired Nick De Noia, an Emmy-winning children’s producer. The flamboyant De Noia whipped the group of hunks into a dazzling, Vegas-esque troupe and suggested opening a Big Apple location.
He also proposed a deal, which he jotted down on a napkin, saying he’d own the rights to then-nonexistent road shows in perpetuity. Banerjee signed it.The New York club was a hit and De Noia took all the credit appearing on shows such as Phil Donohue’s and Sally Jesse Raphael’s talk shows. A fed-up Banerjee decided to have him killed, enlisting pal Ray Colon, who hired a junkie named Louie Lopez to do the deed.
In 1987, Lopez walked into De Noia’s Midtown office and shot him in the face. After the case went unsolved, an emboldened Banerjee then put out a hit on two members of the rival troupe, Adonis: Men of Hollywood. But the hired hitman got cold feet and reported it to the FBI, which led to a break in the De Noia slaying.
Banerjee was arrested and in 1994, he pleaded guilty to racketeering and murder and killed himself. Before his sentencing, he transferred the company to his wife Irene, and hanged himself in his prison cell.“My mother used to say, ‘You don’t have to work a day in your life. There’s money in
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