Celeb backed gay nightclub hit with discrimination allegations in new suit – New York Post
A celebrity-backed gay nightclub in Hell’s Kitchen engaged in racist and sexist entrance policies, catered to underage drinkers and looked the other way when it came to illegal drugs including “date rape” drug GHB, according to a new lawsuit.
The Q, which opened in 2021 on Eighth Avenue and 48th street, was supposed to trumpet “inclusiveness,” but partner Alan Pikus “was vocal in his discriminatory beliefs and was hostile to the club catering to any group other than white young men,” former partner Frank “Frankie” Sharp alleged in the suit which was filed last month in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
Sharp, a nightlife producer and public face of the club, says in the suit that he worked to design and launch the four-story venue which offers a mix of live music, cocktails and a dance floor. Actors Charlie Carver and Zachary Quinto are among its investors and Billy Porter helped promote it.
In addition to Pikus, who is also known as Alan Picus and is a nightclub promoter, partner Bob Fluet, a founder of the Boxers NYC chain of bars, is named in the suit.
The Q was quickly popular with patrons but immediately rattled neighbors who lodged noise complaints, according to the suit, which alleged Pikus would increase the speaker volume if anyone lowered it.
Pikus was also hostile to the club’s popular Latin nights, telling Sharp, “Make sure your Latin nights are the good kind of Latins, not Blatinos,” using slang for someone of mixed race, according to court papers.
Pikus wanted the venue to be “comfortable for white twinks,” or young gay, white men, the suit alleges. He wanted women barred from entry and made a disparaging remark to a potential bar manager, saying, “I don’t need [you] to break my back to hire people just because they’re black or trans,” court papers allege.
The club developed a reputation “as the place to go for underage drinking,” according to court papers say.
And Pikus “ordered” security to stop prohibiting illegal drugs and when they did not comply, he said he would read “the riot act” to the security director for “taking our boys’ GHB away,” the suit alleges. The so-called club drug is known for reducing inhibitions and for being slipped into drinks to render a victim unable to resist a sexual assault.
Pikus is also alleged to have sex in public with club customers, often near workers and “sometimes actually next to them,” according to the lawsuit.
When he told Fluet about worker complaints in April 2022 with video to back them up, he was given an ultimatum to either resign with a small payout or possibly face termination, Sharp contended in his suit.
Sharp said he was fired on May 23.
The suit seeks at least $726,000 plus Sharp’s share of the club’s profits.
“I was shown the door BECAUSE of my REPEATED attempts to address the problematic behavior and dangerous mismanagement of the Q….All I am seeking in this claim is Justice and I REFUSE to be intimidated,” Sharp said on his Facebook page.
Thomas Shanahan, a lawyer for Pikus said, “the allegations of inappropriate, racially insensitive and discriminatory comments, they were taken out of context.”
Pikus denied making the remarks about Latinos, white “twinks,” trans people and that he did not have sex in the club or permit illegal drug us or underage drinking, Shanahan added.
The Q announced on its Instagram page this week that Pikus was no longer affiliated with it and that it made a $10,000 donation to Destination Tomorrow, a Bronx nonprofit serving the LGBTQ+ community.
Fluet on Instagram said “While we vehemently deny the hurtful allegations that have recently surfaced, we are committed to end the very division within our community that Q’s programming and mission were designed to combat.”
Reps for Carver, Quinto and Porter did not return requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Maddie Panzer