Steve Banerjee made a name for himself. The self-made mogul who ran the Chippendales empire meticulously navigated his business endeavors and tried any means to beat out all the competition, which eventually led to his downfall. So many Welcome to Chippendales fans are asking: how did Steve Banerjee die?
The long-winded events that led up to his death began when he kickstarted his erotic business. The former gas station attendant bought a nightclub called Destiny II in Los Angeles and changed the name to Chippendales. Banerjee wanted to focus on female pleasure and opened up the male stripping nightclub in 1979 to much popularity. He wanted to expand his empire to New York, and that’s when Emmy-winning choreographer Nick De Noia comes in.
The Chippendales founder set out to commit arson against competing Los Angeles clubs, some proved to be successful, but others only received little. In A&E’s documentary Secrets of Chippendales, Colon also confessed to Banarjee asking him to burn down Oskos, a Los Angeles club owned by his friends. In the footage, obtained by The Sun, he said: “He asked me if I could burn it down.
What happened to Chippendales after Steve Banerjee’s death? Image: Erin Simkin / ©Hulu / Courtesy Everett Collection