THE TRUE STORY OF THE NYC HUSTLERS
JLo returns to the big screen (*screams*) in Hustlers, a film based on the real-life strippers who scammed their Wall Street clients. Here’s the fact behind the fiction
1
Seventeen-year-old part-time stripper Roselyn “Rosie” Keo (portrayed by Constance Wu) moves to Manhattan, New York, in pursuit of more cash and the chance to turn stripping into a full-time, lucrative job. Everyone tells her the big city has the best rates – how could she resist?
2
At the appropriately named Hustler Club, under the tutelage of mother-hen Samantha Foxx (Lopez), Rosie starts entertaining finance bros from Wall Street – some of whom splurge $300k on dances in a week.
3
Rosie quits stripping when she finds out she’s pregnant with her on-off boyfriend’s baby. But two years later, during a relationship rough patch, she finds herself drawn back to the club…
4
Upon her return, Rosie finds that Hustler and stripping have totally changed. Post-financial crisis, the clients have less money and the new girls are doing everything – anything – for a quick buck.
5
One thing hasn’t changed: Samantha Foxx is still thriving. But this time, she’s not dancing – instead, she’s raking in tens of thousands of dollars a night by sending her younger, newer, glossier-haired crew of strippers out “marketing” or “fishing” for some guaranteed big spenders. Targeting bars in New York’s Financial District, the girls know exactly what signs to look for – the shoes, the watch, the wedding ring – then they reel them in.
6
These new customers splash the cash – though not necessarily by choice. The magic ingredient keeping the dollars coming in is Samantha’s (morally questionable) moneymaking concoction: spiked drinks.
7
With the men once again confined to the Champagne Room back at the club, high and with little chance of having any recollection, Samantha, Rosie and the team begin the meticulously planned operation of running their customers’ credit-card bills up to the max – spending as much as $50,000 at a time – with the men too out of it to notice.
8
The prospect of admitting the truth to the police or, worse, their wives means the men are too ashamed to report the fraud. Samantha and Rosie hustle on with seemingly no end in sight. Or do they…