Snctm sex club founder banned after naming Hunter Biden as former member
Damon Lawner, the founder of Snctm, has been banned from the high-end sex club after he publicly identified Hunter Biden as a former member. The claim about President Biden’s son was included in a Times profile of Lawner published Tuesday.
“Snctm, as a private members club, prioritizes the safety and privacy of our esteemed members above all,” a spokeswoman for Snctm wrote in an email to The Times on Wednesday. “Consequently, we neither confirm nor deny the identities of our attendees. Furthermore, we uphold a strict code of conduct, and any infringement leads to a lifetime ban. Please note that Mr. Lawner’s membership has been revoked, effective immediately.”
The spokeswoman said Lawner “has had no affiliation with Snctm since 2019,” when he sold the club for $1 million.
Lawner, 52, created Snctm in 2013 after watching the Tom Cruise movie “Eyes Wide Shut,” which features scenes in which wealthy elites gather at a secretive orgy. With a carefully curated guest list and membership fees of up to $75,000 a year, it became the free-love private playground of Hollywood actors, rock stars, chief executives, city officials and run-of-the-mill millionaires.
Damon Lawner founded the exclusive sex club Snctm, then sold it for $1 million. At his naughty new WeHo restaurant, $10,000 gets you a booth with a velvet curtain — and no prying eyes.
Lawner told The Times he chose to sell the business after the lifestyle he lived as its owner ruined his relationships with his family.
In the profile, he discussed the early days of the club, the elaborate Snctm masquerade parties he hosted at mansions and nightclubs around town, and his latest business ventures: an erotic restaurant on the Sunset Strip and a high-end cannabis line called Sex Weed.
The story also noted that after Hunter Biden reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on Tuesday, Lawner said in an Instagram Story that the president’s son had once been a Snctm member.
“Hunter was a member at Snctm and I canceled his membership after 1 party because he’s a scumbag,” Lawner wrote in a since-deleted post.
The ownership group now in control of Snctm took issue with Lawner’s post. Reached by phone Wednesday, Lawner said one of the club’s owners texted him on Tuesday and informed him of the ban.
“Posting what I did on my Instagram about Hunter was me letting people know that the type of behavior that he exhibited was something that upsets me,” Lawner said. “I knew that the consequences could be me not being part of Snctm anymore, but I was willing to take that risk.”
Of the ban, he said: “I literally don’t care in the sense that I don’t need to go to Snctm parties. The only reason that I have attended any parties in the last, whatever, any amount of time, is friends have wanted to check it out so I brought them. But personally it’s not something I’m interested in anymore.”
Asked about the specific reasons for Lawner’s ban, the Snctm spokeswoman responded with a second statement:
“As stated, we neither confirm nor deny the identities of past or present attendees. We uphold a strict code of conduct to protect our members’ safety and privacy, and any infringement leads to a lifetime ban,” the new statement read in full.
The spokeswoman did not respond to a call and an email requesting to interview the Snctm owner who revoked Lawner’s membership. A lawyer for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Inside the business of entertainment
The Wide Shot brings you news, analysis and insights on everything from streaming wars to production — and what it all means for the future.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
