The new owner of the Planet Hollywood resort in Las Vegas has been pressuring the bankrupt Privé and Living Room nightclubs there to either pay their past-due rent and expenses or vacate the premises.
Owned by Miami nightclub company the Opium Group, Privé and Living Room filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Nov. 11 in Florida.
Wait! Hold on a sec. We're trusting an entity called "The Opium Group"? Seriously?
OMG, carry on...
Extra security was hired by Planet Hollywood for the clubs after a scandal last year in which the clubs were temporarily closed for numerous violations of Clark County and Nevada Gaming Commission violations.
In a court filing last week, Harrah's Planet Hollywood subsidiary said these included instances where:
--Privé personnel removed inebriated patrons and left them unattended in the Planet Hollywood casino in various states of consciousness
--Privé patrons used or were under the influence of controlled substances while at the club
--Privé patrons alleged Privé employees physically and sexually assaulted them
--Privé was cited by Clark County Department of Business License officials for allowing topless and lewd activity; and for failing to cooperate with agents
--Privé allowed minors to enter the clubs and served them alcohol
The Gaming Commission initially sought to fine Planet Hollywood's then-owner, OpBiz, $750,000, but that was later reduced to $500,000.
Remember all that? It was just last year. And apparently, the fun hasn't stopped just yet!
OpBiz then modified the lease with Privé, requiring the club owner to re-pay OpBiz toward the fine with a payment of $125,000 due last June and five monthly payments of $50,000 after that.
Harrah's said in court papers that Privé is in default on its lease because it has made just one of the $50,000 payments; has failed to reimburse Planet Hollywood for $12,388 in extra security costs; has failed to pay all the rent due for January, February and March; and has allowed construction liens totaling $1.433 million to pile up against the property.
Court records indicate Privé has been paying about $85,000 per month in rent.
Oh my! As I said earlier, this really looks like a hot mess now. Just what was OpBiz thinking it'd get into with these folks?
They served alcohol to underage kids. (And btw, what were they doing in the club in the first place??!!) They threw out severely drunk patrons and left them to fend for themselves. There were drugs all over the place. And oh, let's not forget about the sexual and physical violence.
Real klassy.
I'm just wondering why Harrah's even wants them to stay. Or hey, maybe this is part of an effort to rid the new PHo of all the Prive psychodrama. I may not always see eye to eye with the world's largest gaming company, but in this instance I can see why they're wondering why it's worth it to keep having these wacko deadbeats in their newest casino.
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