A promoter is defending his plans to host an end of the school year party at one of South Florida's most famous strip clubs as outraged community leaders are speaking out.
"There were never going to be any exotic dancers there period," promoter Steve Hirsch told NBC 6 Thursday. Hirsch said he only wanted to host the event at King of Diamonds in Miami Gardens because of the venue's size.
More than 1,000 teenagers had already bought tickets to the "No ID Party" which was supposed to be held at the strip club. It was the hottest ticket in town with students as young as 15 invited.
The year-end bash turned into a bust once elected leaders found out about it.
"How dare you think that we would allow this happen without it going answered," Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara Jordan said at a Thursday news conference.
"None of it was true, there definitely was no strippers, there was definitely no liquor, I mean, it’s a teen party," Hirsch said.
Hirsch added that the only thing he regrets is using a picture on a flyer that implied there would be women dancing inside during the party. He said he picked the club because it can fit up to 4,000 teens.
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He used social media to get the word out and handed flyers out at schools. They offered a VIP bus to pick kids up and advertised hotel rooms if they needed a place to stay.
"I’m outraged, I’m outraged to think that anyone would introduce that to a 15 year old or a 17 year old," Rep. Barbara Watson said at Thursday's news conference.
Hirsch said he has hosted similar teen parties for the past six years and said this year's party will go on, at a different venue.
"The only thing I can really do at this point is move the venue, that’s it," he said.
Lawmakers said they're reviewing all of the local and state laws to try and close the loopholes so kids can't be at strip clubs, even if there aren't any strippers inside. They also want to stop people from handing out flyers and soliciting on school grounds.
