‘Hunk-O-Mania’ lap dance turned into sexual assault: Lawsuit
Revelry at a Hell’s Kitchen “Hunk-O-Mania” strip show turned revolting when one of the chiseled male dancers groped a British tourist, she claims in a lawsuit.
Rudy Bundini, a 6-foot-3 model who once walked the runway during New York’s Fashion Week and has 5 million social media followers, was bumping and grinding for $20 a pop at Harbor Nightclub on West 46th Street in July when the sexual assault occurred, the woman claimed in court papers.
The alleged victim, whose identity is being withheld by The Post, was out with a friend at the venue and had already gotten three lap dances when Bundini, whose real name is Misagh Daraei, approached, the woman claimed in her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
The victim, 27, told Bundini, 36, she had no more cash, so he suggested her friend cough up the dough.
Once the payment was made, Bundini allegedly grabbed the 5-foot-4 woman out of her seat, turned her around so her back was to him, and began grabbing her breasts before reaching beneath her skirt and pushing aside her underwear, she claimed in the litigation.
When she repeatedly told him no, Bundini apparently asked if she wanted to go to the bathroom with him.
She reported the alleged assault to a manager, but the stripper dismissed the encounter as a “misunderstanding,” she said in the legal papers.
He also snatched her phone during the incident, added his Instagram account, and sent himself a message before handing back the device, she claims.
“I called 911 immediately after I got back to the hotel. I also spoke with a detective,” the woman told The Post.
In a statement, the NYPD urged sexual assault victims to come forward but did not confirm whether a report of the assault was filed.
The victim, who is single and had never visited “Hunk-O-Mania” before, said the assault left her “angry, depressed, and fearful.
“After it happened, I felt like my life had fallen into a gray area. I had no energy to do anything and often cried for no reason. I eventually sought help from a therapist,” she said.
Bundini also works for Brown Harris Stevens as a real estate agent and claims to have modeled for Nike, Armani, Versace, Calvin Klein, and others.
The model vehemently denied the allegations, saying they had “no basis” and claimed a recent shoulder injury had left him unable to use his right hand.
He added that the victim took a smiling photo with him afterward.
“There was no time during the dance that ever she [said that she] felt uncomfortable or that she wanted the dance stopped or anything regarding to that,” he told The Post.
Bundini returned the $20 for the dance, according to the victim’s lawyer, Lucia Kello.
“We believe that [he] was well aware that his sexual contact with our client was predatory, unwelcome and a violation of law,” she said in a statement.
The victim, who is seeking unspecified damages, is suing Bundini, the club, and New Age Productions, which runs “Hunk-O-Mania,” among others.
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