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The recent Star Tribune piece celebrating Peter Hafiz and his tenure in Minneapolis’ adult entertainment industry paints a glowing picture of a business empire built on charisma, entrepreneurial grit and nightclub glamour (“Remembering ‘king of clubs’ Peter Hafiz, who built a Minneapolis nightlife empire,” Dec. 5).
But the article presents only one side of the story.
Missing from the celebration of Hafiz’s success is the labor of the workers, specifically the dancers, who made that success possible. As two people, of many, who helped overhaul the city’s adult entertainment regulations in 2018, we know firsthand that the conditions inside many Minneapolis strip clubs were not glamorous, affirming or harmless. They were often dangerous. They were exploitative.
What the Star Tribune omitted
In 2017, the Minneapolis Health Department, under the leadership of Dan Huff, conducted a comprehensive inspection of all 17 adult entertainment establishments operating in the city. The findings were alarming.
Inspectors found evidence of occupational health and safety violations throughout multiple clubs. VIP rooms were routinely unsanitary and impossible to disinfect. Dancers described performing in spaces where they were expected to sit, kneel or dance on unsafe furniture.
They documented broken glass in performance spaces, slippery floors, unsafe stages and insecure railings. Dancers reported cuts, falls and injuries that were treated as routine parts of the job. Injuries that they had to pay for out-of-pocket.
