Two of South Florida’s legacy drag venues are shutting their doors this weekend. AquaPlex in Oakland Park and Birdcage Cabaret in Key West are being closed by their parent company, Pride Holdings Group (PHG). The staff was told late Sunday afternoon and Greater Wilton Manors broke the story that evening.
Employees are sad and angry. Very angry.
Multiple employees told OutSFL their paychecks bounced. Adding insult to injury, it appears the company may not have properly reported employee wages to the state, meaning some staffers say they are having trouble qualifying for unemployment benefits.
“In today’s findings via the state of Florida's unemployment office, I found out that AquaPlex/PrideHoldings hasn’t reported a single cent of my earnings to the government but are taking taxes out (where these taxes are going I don’t know cause the government doesn’t have them),” now-former employee Stephen Bell posted. “I requested my earnings transcript from the IRS & social security earnings report as well to verify but strictly from the unemployment office of Florida… they have no record of a cent of income being earned conveniently starting this past October when all this bull shit started!”
Vauz Allen wrote, “It’s very hard to wrap my head around all the things that have transpired!!! I’m still in shock.”
Some employees remaining through the final weekend say they plan to speak publicly next week
Similar paycheck and unemployment issues are reported by people at Lips in Chicago, also owned by PHG.
Early Retirement & Warning Signs
On Tuesday, PHG announced co-founder and board member Michael Barrett is taking early retirement and returning 20% of the company’s common stock. The stock plummeted in April and has hovered around five-cents per share.
Aside from stock and payroll issues, other red flags have been waving for months. Just two weeks ago, Aquaplex in Key West was evicted. The landlord says the place was trashed and posted a picture of the inside stripped bare, with one person saying even the water heater was gone.
In May, the Fort Lauderdale location was served with a utility shutoff notice on a Monday and a pay-up-or-get-out notice on Tuesday. In early June, AquaPlex Key West got a notice from the county tax office taped to the door. When they were evicted on July 6, their social accounts vowed the Birdcage would remain open.
AquaPlex Fort Lauderdale is promoting “Our Last Dance” set for this Sunday, July 26, at 2 p.m.
Photo by JR Davis.
