Latest news with #stripclub
CNN
4 days ago
- Business
- CNN
NFLPA head Lloyd Howell Jr. steps down amid reports he expensed trips to strip clubs
NFL Players Association (NFLPA) Executive Director Lloyd Howell Jr. has stepped down from his role amid various controversies, including reports on Friday that he expensed the union for trips to strip clubs. 'It's clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day,' Howell said in a statement late on Thursday night. 'For this reason, I have informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I am stepping down as Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effective immediately. I hope this will allow the NFLPA to maintain its focus on its player members ahead of the upcoming season.' CNN has reached out the NFLPA and to Howell Jr., through the union, for comment. According to Reuters, which cited ESPN, receipts from a trip taken by Howell in Novemember 2023 showed that the NFLPA was billed for a car service and other costs by Tootsie's Cabaret in Miami, which claims to be the largest strip club in the world. Citing ESPN, Reuters also reported that a second strip club bill was also reviewed by the NFLPA's lawyers, relating to a reported trip in February during the NFLPA summit and itemizing $2,426 in charges, which included cash withdrawals from a club ATM ranging between $200 and $525. Howell reportedly earned between $3.5 million and $4 million in his role with the NFLPA. That was not the only controversy which Howell has become embroiled in during the last two weeks. Citing ESPN, Reuters reported that alongside his commitments to the NFLPA, Howell also held a part-time consultancy role with The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that the NFL reportedly approved to pursue minority ownership in NFL franchises. This has been viewed by many as a serious conflict of interest. On top of that, Reuters – citing ESPN – also reported that Howell had decided to keep NFL players in the dark over an arbitration ruling on suspected collusion between team owners. Amid concerns that owners were coming together to reduce the growth of quarterback contracts, arbitrator Christopher Droney ruled there was not sufficient evidence to support the claims, per Reuters. However, he added that 'by a clear preponderance of the evidence,' the NFL's general counsel, along with commissioner Roger Goodell, did encourage owners to restrict guaranteed money in player contracts, the agency reported. According to reports, Howell and the NFLPA had a confidentiality agreement with the NFL designed to stop the full report from leaking. Although Howell did brief players on the matter, he did not give them copies of the report, according to Reuters, which cited ESPN. 'I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish at the NFLPA over the past two years,' Howell added in his statement. 'I will be rooting for the players from the sidelines as loud as ever, and I know the NFLPA will continue to ensure that players remain firmly at the center of football's future.'
CNN
4 days ago
- Business
- CNN
NFLPA head Lloyd Howell Jr. steps down amid reports he expensed trips to strip clubs
NFL Players Association (NFLPA) Executive Director Lloyd Howell Jr. has stepped down from his role amid various controversies, including reports on Friday that he expensed the union for trips to strip clubs. 'It's clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day,' Howell said in a statement late on Thursday night. 'For this reason, I have informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I am stepping down as Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effective immediately. I hope this will allow the NFLPA to maintain its focus on its player members ahead of the upcoming season.' CNN has reached out the NFLPA and to Howell Jr., through the union, for comment. According to Reuters, which cited ESPN, receipts from a trip taken by Howell in Novemember 2023 showed that the NFLPA was billed for a car service and other costs by Tootsie's Cabaret in Miami, which claims to be the largest strip club in the world. Citing ESPN, Reuters also reported that a second strip club bill was also reviewed by the NFLPA's lawyers, relating to a reported trip in February during the NFLPA summit and itemizing $2,426 in charges, which included cash withdrawals from a club ATM ranging between $200 and $525. Howell reportedly earned between $3.5 million and $4 million in his role with the NFLPA. That was not the only controversy which Howell has become embroiled in during the last two weeks. Citing ESPN, Reuters reported that alongside his commitments to the NFLPA, Howell also held a part-time consultancy role with The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that the NFL reportedly approved to pursue minority ownership in NFL franchises. This has been viewed by many as a serious conflict of interest. On top of that, Reuters – citing ESPN – also reported that Howell had decided to keep NFL players in the dark over an arbitration ruling on suspected collusion between team owners. Amid concerns that owners were coming together to reduce the growth of quarterback contracts, arbitrator Christopher Droney ruled there was not sufficient evidence to support the claims, per Reuters. However, he added that 'by a clear preponderance of the evidence,' the NFL's general counsel, along with commissioner Roger Goodell, did encourage owners to restrict guaranteed money in player contracts, the agency reported. According to reports, Howell and the NFLPA had a confidentiality agreement with the NFL designed to stop the full report from leaking. Although Howell did brief players on the matter, he did not give them copies of the report, according to Reuters, which cited ESPN. 'I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish at the NFLPA over the past two years,' Howell added in his statement. 'I will be rooting for the players from the sidelines as loud as ever, and I know the NFLPA will continue to ensure that players remain firmly at the center of football's future.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Disgraced former NFLPA boss reportedly used union funds for jaunts at strip clubs
In a hilarious new turn, it was revealed on Friday that disgraced former NFLPA head Lloyd Howell Jr. used union funds for excursions to strip clubs. In a new report from ESPN, the outlet revealed that an NFLPA-appointed investigator looking into Howell Jr.'s questionable decisions as leader of the union received some interesting expense reports and documents recently. The reports and receipts showed proof that Howell Jr. used money from the association to fund nights out at multiple strip clubs. An NFLPA-funded jaunt last year was discovered when a union finance worker noticed the nearly $800 bill he charged for a car service. The cost wasn't for a long drive. It was for the driver to wait eight hours at an address in Miami Gardens. The worker then looked up the location and discovered it was Tootsie's Cabaret in Miami Gardens, FL. A 76,000-square-foot strip club that bills itself as the world's largest gentleman's club that is 'full nude and No. 1 rated.' A year later, expense reports showed he and two NFLPA employees used union funds for a trip to an Atlanta strip club, Magic City. The visit that occurred during the union's summit in February saw the trio allegedly charge over $2,000 on NFLPA accounts. 'According to the expense report, the purpose of the strip club outing: 'Player Engagement Event to support & grow our Union,'' ESPN reported. The employees reviewing the report flagged the reports and receipts to the travel department for further review. The head of the department then forwarded the documents union lawyers for a deeper look at, according to sources the outlet spoke with. Howell Jr. abruptly resigned from his post this week following weeks of criticism over his leadership, as well as a serious conflict of interest. The former attorney was working as a part-time consultant for the Carlyle Group, an NFL-approved private equity firm seeking minority ownership in NFL franchises. Also Read:: Highest paid NFL players 2025: Highest paid NFL quarterbacks, highest paid players by position Related Headlines '1 Percent Chance': Pirates Reporter Shares Bleak Take on Paul Skenes Extension Prospects Yankees Expected 'To Get After It' Before Trade Deadline: 6 Blockbuster Trade Targets, Including Chris Sale Top MLB reporter: Teams Will 'Laugh At' Luis Robert Jr. If He Makes This Demand Did Kyle Schwarber's All-Star Game Heroics Drive Up His Price With Free Agency Looming?
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ex-NFLPA head Lloyd Howell reportedly resigned after charging union for strip club visits totaling over $3,000
Former NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell resigned Thursday night after an outside investigator reportedly discovered Howell charged the union for multiple strip club visits, according to ESPN. Howell allegedly charged the union $738.82 on one receipt and another $2,426 during a separate strip club visit. The first receipt stems from an alleged visit to a strip club in Miami Gardens. On Nov. 2, 2023, Howell was reportedly picked up at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport at 10:26 p.m. He allegedly had that car drive him to an address in Miami Gardens, which turned out to be a strip club named Tootsie's Cabaret. Around 6:00 a.m. the following morning, that car allegedly drove Howell to his condo in Sunny Isles Beach. Howell reportedly submitted an expense totaling $738.82 to the union. One of the union's finance workers was curious about the cost of the ride, looked up the Miami Gardens address and discovered it was a strip club, per ESPN. That employee sent the request up the chain for review. The head of travel for the union reportedly forwarded the receipt and documents to union lawyers to review the situation, sources told ESPN. Howell allegedly submitted a similar expense over a year later. He reportedly charged the union $2,426 after taking two employees to Magic City strip club in Atlanta. The purpose of the outing was reportedly listed as "Player Engagement Event to support & grow our Union" on the receipt. Howell reportedly encouraged one of the employees who attended the strip club to also submit an expense report. That employee filed for $736. Bob Stropp, a veteran labor lawyer, spoke to ESPN about the 2023 incident. Stropp called Howell's actions "horrible," among other things. "That's pretty horrible," said Stropp, 77, the former general counsel of the United Mine Workers of America. "That's unbelievable. I don't know how you get around that. It's hard to believe that anyone would be that stupid." It's not the first time Howell has allegedly come under fire due to a strip club expense report. In 2015, Howell and another employee at Booz Allen, where Howell worked at the time, reportedly racked up thousands of dollars in expenses during a visit to a strip club. The employee attempted to submit an expense report for that visit. That employee was fired and Howell was reportedly reprimanded. The incident reportedly occurred while Howell was a defendant in a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by a Booz Allen partner. Details of that lawsuit came to light in an ESPN report Thursday. It was unclear whether NFLPA members knew about Howell's involvement in the sexual discrimination lawsuit when he was elected to be the next NFLPA executive director. Booz Allen eventually settled that lawsuit for an undisclosed sum, per ESPN. ESPN's report Thursday marked the fourth time this offseason Howell's actions as NFLPA executive director came under scrutiny. Journalists Mike Florio and Pablo Torre previously unearthed two grievance rulings the NFL and NFLPA worked to keep secret. One of those rulings found evidence of collusion among teams, a potentially explosive revelation that Howell not only worked to keep out of the public, but also may have tried to keep from players. After the first grievance filing came to light, Howell's consulting work with The Carlyle Group also received attention. Howell began working with the company, which is an NFL-approved private equity firm seeking minority ownership in NFL franchises, prior to being elected by the NFLPA. Given the Carlyle Group's ties to the league, Howell's consulting role was seen by some as a conflict of interest. Howell was reportedly asked to resign from his position with The Carlyle Group before taking over as NFLPA executive director, but declined to do so. Despite the sexual discrimination lawsuit and his consulting work, Howell emerged as a finalist to take over for DeMaurice Smith as the NFLPA executive director. Howell was elected into that role in 2024 after a vote by the 32 player reps. In his position as NFLPA executive director, Howell made $3.6 million last year.
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Irish Times
Leaving Cert holidays: Sun, street fights and big spending on Zante's party strip
Two recent former pupils from a South Dublin all-boys school race out of a strip club in Laganas, having stolen a passing glance inside. There are 'weird sex games' where participants are encouraged to eat chocolate off men and fruit off women, one of the pair says. The other says that they thought it was 'a normal club' before going inside. It is Wednesday night on the main party strip on Zakynthos, the Greek island better known as Zante, where the two teenagers mix with scores of other Irish students on holidays to mark the end of Leaving Certificate exams. During the day, Zakynthos is the picture-perfect Greek island, with azure water, beaches worthy of the film Mamma Mia! and scorching sun. At night, the temperature mellows to around 26 degrees, but the atmosphere is febrile, full of sweat, shisha vapour and the smell of cheap drink. 'I think there will be a fair few people who will try to cook themselves with alcohol,' says Samuel Dalston (19) from Tipperary who did his Leaving Cert as a boarder in Clongowes Wood College in Clane, Co Kildare, and hopes to study medicine in September. READ MORE Sitting on a stool on the rooftop Irish bar O'Callaghan's Loft, he eyes the private medical clinics dotted along the party street. There are concerns about profiteering or the risk of visitors being left with inflated medical bills for emergencies. Dalston shares this worry about scams, but also see the benefit of such clinics, saying without them 'we'd have a few dead bodies across the street'. The mayor of Zakynthos, Georgios Stasinopoulos, tells The Irish Times the clinics 'are there to make people feel safer'. He says: 'The amount of private clinics is very good for the tourists because it's very quick. You don't wait in the hospital for many hours – you know how hospitals are, everywhere you go.' Holidaymakers queue to enter The Loft, an Irish bar on the busy Laganas strip in Zakynthos. Photograph: Niamh Browne The Laganas strip is designed to contain partying to one section of the island – and Leaving Cert students are here in their droves. Covid shaped a lot of developmental milestones for this cohort. There were no teen discos, no stolen kisses at Irish college. There were two years without school plays or outings. The class of 2025 is now making up for it. Caoilfhionn Roche (18), from Rathfarnham, Dublin, who went to Loreto High School Beaufort, says 'some people would take advantage of the freedom here. There's free rein here'. Caoilfhionn Roche: 'We've been told to buy stuff that's bottled, that you see them opening in front of you.' Photograph: Niamh Browne However, the biggest danger she perceives is the spiking of drinks with drugs. 'There's certain places we have been told not to go to because the drinks get spiked a lot, even by bartenders, which is really scary. We've been told to buy stuff that's bottled, that you see them opening in front of you and that kind of thing,' says Roche, who has a college course on radiography or speech and language therapy in her sights for September. Stasinopoulos encourages caution when it comes to the promise of free alcohol. 'They sell tickets for €10 and you drink all the night. For €10, you can only drink water'. The mayor's interpreter adds: 'Don't mix the bars as well. In case something happens, you know which bar you were in.' Former Clongowes student Ryan Schacht, from Monkstown, Co Dublin, who is aiming to study theoretical physics at Trinity College Dublin next year, says: 'I saw a guy punch a girl in the face yesterday. That was pretty brutal.' Otherwise the safety of the strip was similar to Dublin 'with a few more fights'. Ruairí Hegarty (18), who is hoping to attend the TU Dublin conservatoire for performing arts in September, says: 'I'd say it's because you have mostly 18-year-olds who are unsupervised abroad with unlimited alcohol. That's probably the only reason that you would see more violence.' He says the Leaving Cert holiday is 'making up for lost time post-pandemic'. Friends Ruairí Hegarty, Ryan Schacht and Daniel Cremin, all former students of Clongowes Wood College. Photograph: Niamh Browne Students are alert to the risk of financial 'scams'. Oisín Lambe, a former Clongowes boarder from Drogheda, Co Louth, was shocked to find air-conditioning being charged on a daily basis after already forking out €600 for flights and accommodation. 'The hotel charges extra for air conditioning. It's a fiver a day. For seven days that's €35 for the week.' One of the friends says: 'But you have to pay it.' With daily temperatures in Zante reaching the mid-30s, it seems the only option is to pay. Zakynthos mayor Georgios Stasinopoulos urges caution when it comes to promises of free drink. Photograph: Niamh Browne The costs surrounding Leaving Cert holidays are significant – and that's before budgeting in the so-called 'pink tax' for girls who are under pressure to conform. A group of young women who studied at the Dublin Academy of Education say there is an expectation that they look a certain way in time for the holiday and this requires spending a good deal of money. 'The way you'd start the conversations in the library would be kind of sad. Like you're looking forward to this holiday, but thinking, 'Oh my body blah blah',' one former student says. 'It was kind of concerning that everyone was nervous about what they would look like.' Another girl says: 'Yeah, you are spending a grand on flights and accommodation, but on top of that you are spending a grand to get prepped.' The Laganas tourist strip is packed with bars and clubs. Photograph: Niamh Browne Along the heaving Laganas strip, vape shops, sex shops, pharmacies and even supermarkets can be found openly selling cannabis and cannabis-related products. Medical cannabis is the only form of the drug legal in Greece and you need a valid prescription from an approved doctor to obtain the drug. However, the cannabis products sold across Zante purport to contain low levels of THC, which is considered to be the main psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis. One vendor selling cannabis products is pharmacist Constantine Grigoropoulos. 'At the moment, the legal amount of THC in a product is 0.02 per cent up to 0.03 per cent; 99 per cent of the product is CBD [which does not cause a psychoactive high]. That's all that's allowed to be sold in the shops,' he says. As a pharmacist, Grigoropoulos can dispense medical marijuana, which contains THC, and the CBD products. 'I get people in from England and Ireland saying, 'Oh, you have real THC, bro', but, no, there's none of that. There are a lot of cannabis companies in Greece, but we only sell what is legal.' Fifty metres down the road is DownTown Laganas Tobacconist Weed & Sex Shop, whose staff purport to sell 'real' products containing higher levels of THC. Products can be purchased here which provide no more detailed information on the contents other than 'legal product, THC <0.3%'. Legal 'weed' products available to buy along the strip in Zante. Photograph: Niamh Browne However, according to University College Cork lecturer in organic and pharmaceutical chemistry Dr JJ Keating: 'There is no way of knowing based solely on the information provided on the packet and on what you may have been told it contains.' For general information on safety and support, he recommends trusted resources such as the HSE booklet, Cannabis and You . In Zante, Dr Elena Andritsou is tired and weary. It's 10.40am in the midst of a challenging party season. Her clinic is in the middle of the strip. For her, the 5am patients are the scariest. 'I had a Norwegian patient a couple of days ago. He arrived in here really upset. Someone had drugged him, injected him. We don't really know with what. He was really scared. He was only 17,' she says. Dr Elena Andritsou, whose practice is on the Laganas strip, is seeing more patients suffering the after-effects of drugs. Photograph: Niamh Browne The drugs situation is worsening, Dr Andritsou says. 'I was here in 2013. You could see a lot of drunk people. But people who used drugs? One every 10 nights, not every night.' Asked what kind of drugs patients are taking, she says: 'Street drugs.' 'It is impossible to say, it was this, it was that. It's street drugs. It's mixing. It's ridiculous. There are so many side affects. Especially from people who are sniffing 'cocaine',' she says, making air quotes with her fingers. 'It's so little the amount of cocaine that it doesn't even show up on the test.' Most of the consultations at Dr Andritsou's practice, however, are not related to drink or drugs, but are for problems such as 'ear infections, eye infections'. She cautions against the water parks, crowded swimming pools and ones in night clubs. 'There are too many people in the swimming pools for them to be cleaned properly,' she says. 'You can get ear infections, sinus infections, urine infections, skin infections.' Aside from the infections that can be picked up, other reactions can occur because 'they always put in a little more chemicals because it's too busy and they think that's right'. This can result in 'chlorine damage on the cornea'. Zante's beaches as well as the island's nightlife are lures for tourists. Photograph: Niamh Browne What of the parents 3,000km away worrying about their teenage children? Not surprisingly, perhaps, they are checking in regularly. 'I got a notification from Family 360 [tracking app] saying that it had been checked 150 times in the last three days,' says Sophia Kelly (18) from South Dublin, who is hoping to study medicine. Some parents are even resorting to following their children out to the party locations and staying within 'emergency distance'. One mother, who is flying to Santa Ponsa in Mallorca, Spain, said: 'We are very aware of the tragedies that have occurred over the last number of years and believe that it is important to be able to support if something terrible or tragic occurs.' She departed for Spain this week, a day before her daughter set off with her friends. 'This is our second year going on the Leaving Cert holiday as we went with our son last year. Last year we stayed approximately 30 minutes away while this year we will be 1.5 hours away, as our Leaving Cert student this year is less of a risk,' said the mother, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of 'embarrassing her daughter'. In terms of financial outlay, she says: 'The Leaving Cert holiday is costing us €1,500 and we are expecting the usual Revolut requests to start by Tuesday. The beauty prep and wardrobe for girls is bonkers.' 'They deserve to have a holiday. They deserve freedoms': Students let their hair down on the Laganas strip. Photograph: Niamh Browne She says she advises her daughter to 'stay out of the sun and do not come home with green highlights because I am not paying for the repairs'. While the extra beauty costs are substantial, she does not consider the additional cost of flying out to be close to her daughter to be extravagant. 'We are going for a week and would be taking holidays anyway, so the cost isn't a concern.' Another mother who has also flown to southern Europe to be within emergency phone call distance has done so because her daughter has an severe allergy. 'If anything happened, it wouldn't be fair to expect the other girls to look after her if she is at the hospital and that sort of thing.' Parents have to let go some time, however, and the students in Zante who spoke to The Irish Times were keen to emphasise they were behaving responsibly and looking out for one another. Asked what she would tell parents who were nervous about their Leaving Cert teenager travelling, Amy Allan (18), from Rathfarnham, who attended Loreto Beaufort, said: 'Trust them. Relax. They deserve to have a holiday. They deserve freedom.'
