An actress on Apple TV+’s hit new series is also the person who helped organize the dancers at a North Hollywood strip club into the second union in U.S. history for exotic dancers.
Lindsey Normington, who plays Rose on Apple TV+'s 'Margo's Got Money Troubles,' helped organize Star Garden in North Hollywood into the second unionized strip club in U.S. history. The dancers joined Actors' Equity after a year-long campaign.
An actress on Apple TV+’s hit new series is also the person who helped organize the dancers at a North Hollywood strip club into the second union in U.S. history for exotic dancers.
Lindsey Normington, who plays Rose on the show, helped lead the effort to unionize Star Garden on Lankershim Boulevard. The club’s dancers joined the Actors’ Equity Association after a year-long campaign that included an eight-month picket line and a lockout by management.
"Normington’s advocacy extends far beyond the screen. She also helped organize Star Garden in North Hollywood, making it only the second strip club in U.S. history to successfully unionize."
Those words came from Los Angeles Times Television Editor Maira Garcia in a Q&A published Tuesday with the show’s cast and creative team. The interview covered everything from OnlyFans research to the labor organizing that Normington brought from her real life into her role.
The unionization effort began in March 2022, when 15 of the club’s 23 dancers delivered a petition to Star Garden’s owners. The dancers cited unsafe working conditions, including holes in the stage and protruding nails. They also said security guards and management refused to protect them from threatening and abusive behavior by patrons, according to a Los Angeles Daily News report from August 2023.
When the dancers attempted to meet with management to discuss their grievances, they were locked out of the club. They picketed the venue for eight months.
The dancers filed a petition for a union-recognition election with the National Labor Relations Board in August 2022. An election was held the following fall, and the vote came back 17 to 0 in favor of unionization.
Club owners challenged the election results, claiming some of the strippers were not directly employed by Star Garden. The club closed its doors in early 2023 as management attempted to file for bankruptcy. Owners said the club would reopen as a pool hall, but that never happened.
"Business at the club plummeted during that time, prompting the owners to scale back the lineup of dancers while the club was quietly atrophying away," an Actors’ Equity representative told the Daily News.
In May 2023, Star Garden owners withdrew their election challenges at a settlement hearing. Management agreed to recognize the union and meet at the bargaining table.
The Actors’ Equity Association represents more than 51,000 stage workers across the country. Kate Shindle, president of the association, said negotiations for a final contract remained a work in progress as of August 2023.
"Patrons should be able to go to a strip club, enjoy themselves and feel good in knowing that the dancers are well-treated. Soon, I hope, we will have a contract that will give our members what they need and at the same time help the club to succeed."
One dancer, who goes by the stage name Lilith, told the Daily News she had been dreaming of returning to the stage since the picket line began. Around 10 dancers initially returned to the stage when the club reopened, with more expected as business picked up.
Normington, 29, is best known for her role as Diamond in Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or and Academy Award-winning film Anora (2024). She spent a decade working as a stripper before transitioning to acting.
That experience informed her performance as Rose on Margo’s Got Money Troubles, a comedy-drama based on Rufi Thorpe’s best-selling novel. The series follows Margo (played by Elle Fanning), a college dropout who turns to OnlyFans to support her new baby when the bills pile up.
Normington pushed to keep a key scene in the show where her character checks Margo and defensively claims, "I don’t make porn, I make art," according to the LA Times.
"I feel like I was really heard on that subject and across the board," Normington said of the show’s collaborative environment.
The series has been renewed for a second season. Executive producer Matthew Tinker confirmed that production will remain in Los Angeles.
The Star Garden unionization is only the second time in U.S. history that a strip club has successfully unionized. The first was Lusty Lady in San Francisco, where dancers organized the Exotic Dancers Union in 1996. That club affiliated with the Service Employees International Union before closing in 2013.
Dancer Velveeta told the Daily News that collective bargaining was a necessity, not a choice.
"We’re like so many other workers who have learned that it’s not a choice between suffering abuse or quitting. With a union, together, we can make needed improvements to our workplace."
The complete first season of Margo’s Got Money Troubles is streaming now on Apple TV+.
This article was generated with AI assistance.