Exclusive | Strip club boss showdown intensifies with allegations of drugs, racism, death threats

The battle over one of Los Angeles’ most popular strip clubs is intensifying, as allegations of drugs, racism and death threats have emerged in the latest lawsuit pinning two industry bosses against each other. 

Last week, The California Post reported on a lawsuit that read like an episode of HBO’s “Euphoria” — alleging Craig Franze, owner of the infamous Body Shop strip club on the iconic Sunset Boulevard, engaged in a “fraudulent bait-and-switch” scheme to seize control of two rival clubs — 4Play and Plan B — from his former “best friend” Mike Galam. 

Now, Franze is pushing back, filing a counter suit on Tuesday that alleges a shady business history with Galam, and claims he agreed to purchase only 30% equity interest in both clubs in exchange for a capital investment of $2.5 million. 

Throughout the duo’s business adventures, which began back in early 2014 and came to a screeching halt in 2025, Galam embezzled club funds, abused drugs, skirted liquor laws, and made death threats against Franze, according to the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit claims the former friends first went into business together around early 2014, when Galam purchased four nightclubs for Franze to co-own and manage in Florida, but the pair quickly had a falling out. 

They rekindled their relationship during COVID, when Galam asked Franze to help manage the Bare Elegance strip club in Los Angeles, but again, Franze walked away when Galam failed to meet his financial obligations, according to the lawsuit. 

But Galam, who filed a lawsuit against his former business partner last week, claimed Franze was “systematically embezzling” funds while he was the manager at Bare Elegance estimated to be over $1 million to finance his lavish lifestyle. 

However, the two friends seemingly hashed out their differences in 2023. 

Franze, who planned on purchasing the Body Shop, accepted a $1.2 million investment from Galam to help solidify the deal “as a show of good faith” and to repay the debt he was owed, the lawsuit stated. 

Later the pair reached another agreement that would guarantee Franze and his business partner Archie Donovan a weekly salary of $2,500 as long as Bare Elegance was in operation in exchange for Galam to have the rights to invest in 4Play and Plan B, according to the lawsuit. 

The agreement to transfer minority ownership of the two clubs ultimately failed, when Galam allegedly couldn’t come up with the promised $2.5 million investment to Franze and Donovan. 

The lawsuit later acknowledged Galam did deliver the full amount, but never fulfilled the obligations of the $2,500 weekly salary causing the pair to pull out of the deal, the lawsuit states. 

“In light of this conduct, it became clear that Galam was on an uncontrolled and increasingly destructive path,” according to the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs had no choice but to try and separate from him.” 

The lawsuit goes on to detail allegations of sexual abuse, heavy drug use and racism.  

“His conduct included racial harassment of employees, the sale of drugs within the venues, sexually abusing employees, efforts to interfere with Plaintiffs’ employment relationships, and attempts to obtain confidential business information through improper means,” the lawsuit states. 

Franze also alleges Galam has made multiple threats against his life, forcing his family to relocate to a gated community and hire private security. 

“Every occasion on which Franze has encountered Galam in a public setting, Galam has been carrying the bag in which the firearm is concealed,” the lawsuit states. “In the context of Galam’s ongoing campaign of threats and escalating conduct against Franze, this practice constituted a direct and credible threat that substantially and reasonably amplified Franze’s fear for his life and the lives of his family members.” 

Galam said the allegations “show their extreme desperation,” telling The Post, “I had a chuckle when I read it, to be honest.

“He’s always responded to his problems by ignoring, fabricating ,distracting and deflecting, gaslighting, blaming other others,” he said in a statement to The Post. “That’s what I saw in his counter-complaint — trying to get everyone to ‘look at this, not that.’”

Galam claims he has “mountains of evidence” against Franze that validate his case, telling The Post that “soon the truth will come out in court.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters