Chippendales Seeks Chapter 11 Protection

The parent company of Chippendales, the West Los Angeles nightspot known for its male dancers, is seeking bankruptcy court protection to buy time to deal with a flood of lawsuits and legal expenses, its owner said Friday.

Steve Banerjee, owner and founder of Easebe Enterprises, said the company and its primary business, Chippendales, are doing well aside from legal fees that “have been killing me for the last five or six years. Every time I turn around, I get sued.”

He added that all four Chippendales clubs--the others are in New York, Denver and Dallas--remain open.

Banerjee said lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages forced Easebe last week to file for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy law. That provision of bankruptcy law allows a company to operate normally during a reorganization, temporarily safeguarded from legal claims.

“I didn’t have any choice but to take refuge under the law,” Banerjee said.

Chippendales, he said, “is more popular than ever before.”

The claims against Chippendales have included personal injury cases as well as charges of overcrowding and discrimination against would-be male patrons. Banerjee said he has squabbled with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Police Commission and other city and county authorities.

The business’ legal woes have been aggravated by the financial problems of its previous insurers. Banerjee said that Easebe faces 30 claims from 1982-84 totaling “a few million” dollars because of the insurers’ inability to cover them.

A native of Bombay, India, Banerjee started Chippendales from scratch 10 years ago with $1,000 in borrowed money. The nightclub features male dancers and mud wrestlers.

Easebe also publishes Chippendales calendars and licenses various products, ranging from air fresheners to clothing to videotapes.

Banerjee said Chippendales sells 1 million copies of the calendar annually, and he calls it “the world’s No. 1-selling calendar.”

“I will not operate in the red in the future. I’m advertising heavily, sales are going up. I’ll be doing very, very well. I need to get out of these lawsuits.”

David A. Baker, Banerjee’s attorney, said Easebe will reorganize and “we will deal with lawsuits that are pending and the litigation that we are undertaking.”

“As long as women look at beautiful men and have fun, we will do well,” Banerjee said.