A tax-dodging nightclub owner got a last-minute Presidential pardon from President Obama — but even Donald Trump may not have cared! That’s because Ian Schrager was hiding bundles of cash being hauled in at Studio 54, the sordid celebrity nightspot frequented by megastars like Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Sly Stallone, Woody Allen, and the future President! “I have been trying to lead a good and productive life since the mistake I made over 35 years ago,” said Schrager. As revealed by The National ENQUIRER, however, hiding profits wasn’t the only bad behavior at the legendary disco…
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In 1977, Schrager and his Brooklyn-born buddies Steve Rubell launched their modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah packed with mounds of cocaine, cross-dressers, transvestites, gays and naked, sweating bodies. "Steve called me the morning after our grand opening. On the front page of the New York paper was a picture of
Cher at the opening, wearing a T-shirt with suspenders, a pair of jeans and a straw hat!"
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But promoter Nikki Haskell revealed how Donald Trump helped to turn Studio 54 into a manufactured success. "I took Donald and Ivana Trump to the first night in 1977," she said. "There were only eight people in the place. But at 1 a.m., we were told 400 people were outside and the police were coming. That's how it became a phenomenon. No one could get in!"
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One of the "beautiful" people allowed in was '70s beauty Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski. "
O.J. Simpson made a pass at me — a really big play," she revealed. "I used to go to dance, but all these men would chase after you because you were dancing. So I'd go home in Halston's limousine."
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During one Studio 54 party, a brigade of Hell's Angels roared into the club. Kinky disco diva Grace Jones brought a bevy of barking boys on leashes, and
Bianca Jagger rode into her birthday party on a white horse! Sela Ward — who was later in a 1998 movie about the disco — recalled: "I used to go to the balcony and look around with one eye closed. It was dark, but you'd see all sorts of sordid things, including people having sex."
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But on December 14, 1978, Schrager's world came crashing down when Studio 54 was raided by IRS agents. One of the club's waiters had gone to the Feds and reported that the owners were hiding Hefty bags full of cash in their office ceilings. The club had only paid $8,000 in taxes, despite Rubell bragging to reporters that "only the Mafia made more money" than the club.
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Schrager made a career change when he got out of prison in 1981, and is now a respected hotelier with upscale locations all over the world. One of his hotels still ended up in a new scandal, though — thanks to the same political connections that could have helped to get Schrager's record cleared.
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As covered by The ENQUIRER in 2002,
Bill Clinton was rumored to be "the other man" in the high-society divorce of beautiful blonde Lisa Belzberg from businessman Matthew Bronfman. “She married a guy worth $6 billion, but she still likes to flirt with me,” the ex-Prez reportedly boasted — and insiders claimed that Bill would use Schrager's Hudson Hotel in Manhattan for his trysts with the married woman!
In 1977, Schrager and his Brooklyn-born buddies Steve Rubell launched their modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah packed with mounds of cocaine, cross-dressers, transvestites, gays and naked, sweating bodies. "Steve called me the morning after our grand opening. On the front page of the New York paper was a picture of
Cher at the opening, wearing a T-shirt with suspenders, a pair of jeans and a straw hat!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
_
But promoter Nikki Haskell revealed how Donald Trump helped to turn Studio 54 into a manufactured success. "I took Donald and Ivana Trump to the first night in 1977," she said. "There were only eight people in the place. But at 1 a.m., we were told 400 people were outside and the police were coming. That's how it became a phenomenon. No one could get in!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images
One of the "beautiful" people allowed in was '70s beauty Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski. "
O.J. Simpson made a pass at me — a really big play," she revealed. "I used to go to dance, but all these men would chase after you because you were dancing. So I'd go home in Halston's limousine."
Photo credit: Getty Images
During one Studio 54 party, a brigade of Hell's Angels roared into the club. Kinky disco diva Grace Jones brought a bevy of barking boys on leashes, and
Bianca Jagger rode into her birthday party on a white horse! Sela Ward — who was later in a 1998 movie about the disco — recalled: "I used to go to the balcony and look around with one eye closed. It was dark, but you'd see all sorts of sordid things, including people having sex."
Photo credit: Getty Images
But on December 14, 1978, Schrager's world came crashing down when Studio 54 was raided by IRS agents. One of the club's waiters had gone to the Feds and reported that the owners were hiding Hefty bags full of cash in their office ceilings. The club had only paid $8,000 in taxes, despite Rubell bragging to reporters that "only the Mafia made more money" than the club.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Schrager made a career change when he got out of prison in 1981, and is now a respected hotelier with upscale locations all over the world. One of his hotels still ended up in a new scandal, though — thanks to the same political connections that could have helped to get Schrager's record cleared.
Photo credit: Getty Images
As covered by The ENQUIRER in 2002,
Bill Clinton was rumored to be "the other man" in the high-society divorce of beautiful blonde Lisa Belzberg from businessman Matthew Bronfman. “She married a guy worth $6 billion, but she still likes to flirt with me,” the ex-Prez reportedly boasted — and insiders claimed that Bill would use Schrager's Hudson Hotel in Manhattan for his trysts with the married woman!
Photo credit: Getty Images
