‘Welcome to Chippendales’: Everything to Know About Chippendales Founder Steve Banerjee
The new Hulu limited series Welcome to Chippendales follows the story of Somen “Steve” Banerjee, an immigrant who moved to the United States to chase the American dream of wealth and success. Banerjee founded Chippendales, the most popular male dance troupe of all time. However, incredibly successful people rarely make it to the top without making a few enemies along the way. Here’s everything we know about Steve Banerjee.
[WARNING: Because Welcome to Chippendales is based on a true story, the details in this article might be considered spoilers.]
Steve Banerjee had dreams of opening a backgammon club
When we first meet Banerjee in Welcome to Chippendales, two young men antagonize him as he works as the manager of a small gas station. When the gas station chain’s owner invites Banerjee to dinner, he offers to help him open up his own gas station with the money he’s saved over the years. However, running a gas station wasn’t what Banerjee’s dreams were made of, and he declined the offer. Instead, he had high hopes of opening a successful backgammon club.
Banerjee found an old nightclub and bought it with his savings. As it turns out, the good people of Los Angeles weren’t chomping at the bit to play backgammon. However, a man named Paul Snider walked into Banerjee’s establishment with his then-girlfriend Dorothy Stratten. Banerjee asked for Snider’s help, and eventually, the idea to turn the nightclub into a male strip club for women was born. Soon after, Banerjee also brought on Emmy award-winning director Nick de Noia to help choreograph the dances.
Steve Banerjee hired a hitman to kill Nick de Noia
In the most recent episode of Welcome to Chippendales titled “Velveeta,” tensions between Banerjee and de Noia came to a head when Banerjee orchestrated a photo shoot of the male dancers without de Noia’s creative input. The episode ends with de Noia buying a one-way ticket to New York.
In reality, Banerjee wanted to transform Chippendales into a franchise and expand to New York. He and de Noia decided to split the business, with Banerjee handling all of the permanent clubs and de Noia running the tours. However, de Noia’s tours became a tremendous success, and Banerjee became jealous.
In 1987, Banerjee hired a former Miami police officer by the name of Ray Colon and his accomplice, Gilbert Rivera Lopez, to murder de Noia and get him out of the picture. Colon and Lopez showed up at de Noia’s Times Square office and shot him in the face, killing him.
Even with de Noia out of the picture, Banerjee remained obsessed with gaining more and more power. He paid Colon to commit arson and burn down clubs Banerjee saw as a threat. Banerjee also hired Colon to murder former Chippendales dancers who began their own company. Thankfully, Colon backed out before he went through with it.
Chippendales founder Steve Banerjee died by suicide in jail
Authorities eventually arrested Banerjee for multiple crimes, including conspiracy to violate the federal murder-for-hire statute, and for five counts of causing others to travel in foreign commerce, according to UPI. Banerjee pled not guilty at first, but if convicted, he would receive a lifelong prison sentence and fined $1.75 million. However, he ended up changing his plea to guilty for the charges of attempted arson, racketeering, and murder for hire. The plea deal he received cut his sentence to 26 years in prison, and he lost all of his assets gained from the Chippendales franchise. Banerjee died by suicide before sentencing, though, and his wife, Irene, inherited Chippendales.
Welcome to Chippendales Episodes 1-3 are currently streaming on Hulu.
