Shortly thereafter, the nightclub was raided and Rubell and Schrager were arrested for Studio 54 closed with a final party on the night of February 2–3, 1980, when On January 17, 2017, Schrager received a presidential pardon from President In 1981, Rubell and Schrager sold the building but opted to keep a lease.
It operated as an entertainment venue under various names until 1942, when CBS began using it as a radio and television studio dubbed Studio 52.
In 1977 the club made millions yet reportedly paid just a paltry $8,000 in taxes.
“After a while, everybody had it in for them,” Mr. Rodgers said, “simply because they wouldn’t let everybody in.”When Mr. Rubell boasted to New York magazine that “only the mafia does better” than Studio 54, the Internal Revenue Service took the bait, raiding the club in December 1978 and alleging that the owners had skimmed more than $2 million from the profits.“There was a real backlash against Studio, a groundswell of resentment,” Mr. Schrager said. This got the attention of the IRS. Select from premium Studio 54 of the highest quality. “This was kind of a reckoning for him with something very important in his life and career, but too hot to touch as a traumatic memory,” he said. Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager sentenced for tax evasion in 1980 have 214 words, post on www.nydailynews.com at January 18, 2016. This got the attention of the IRS.
The club was operated by Noel Ashman and The building, which is still frequently referred to as the Launched in 2020, Studio 54 Music's first release, The project was led by producer JKriv, current member of In the late 1970s, Studio 54 was one of the best-known The agents entered the office seeking links to organized crime and arrested his partner Ian Schrager after reportedly finding cocaine among some papers he was carrying. Studio 54 marked the end of an intensely serious time in history and launched an era of freedom and fun. It’s indicative of a culture of secrets that Mr. Tyrnauer said characterized the time. Studio 54 had no liquor license when it opened — every day, they would get a temporary catering permit, a stopgap that continued for more than a year, and ultimately set their downfall in motion.Opening night was a mob scene (“We were actually scared,” Mr. Schrager said, “we had to bring all the security inside out onto the street”), and then it was a matter of constantly scrambling to feed the beast of success. (Mr. Schrager was Mr. Schrager had never spoken about his father before (“That was the biggest shock,” Mr. Rodgers said, “my face dropped when I saw that”), and he is visibly uncomfortable on film discussing this part of his history.