A building fire in Orlando on Saturday, April 4 was confirmed to have occurred at the gentlemen’s club Dancers Royale. Orlando County Fire Rescue, which responded to the fire at 6:11 a.m., said it believes the fire stemmed from the kitchen.
A final decision will come down from the State Fire Marshal.
On April 5, Dancers owner Gene DuPont posted on Facebook the following:
It is time for me to speak to all of my friends, supporters and even my detractors, and end the vicious speculation of those who have commented – those with zero information or context about the crime that occurred in the burning of Dancer’s Royale. This fire was caused by arson, and I need help identifying the arsonist.
This club is, and has been, my heart and soul for nearly a third of my life. Yet for unfathomable reasons, the most vicious accusations have been leveled toward myself, my dedicated staff and patrons, and the club itself. For those that speculated about my involvement, I do not own the building so there would be no substantial insurance payout for me and any insurance money will go to rebuild Dancers. Also, I am offering a $5,000 reward for info that leads to his arrest. This is the ARSON HOTLINE 1-877-662-7766 so please call with any information. You can be anonymous if you like.
There are people who do not believe in God or the institutions of religions, but that gives nobody the right to burn them down. It is the same for any business or social group. And so I am asking that this community help find this man and let justice take its course. I would say the same for any victim of such a senseless crime, independent of how I might personally feel about their business.
As for those accusing me personally of this crime, you obviously know nothing about me, my ethics, my personal situation or the personal grief that I have for the loss of income for my staff, some whom have put in decades. So I will just let those mean spirited comments fall on deaf ears. They don’t ever merit a response and the truth will come out, hopefully after this post.
Please help find the person in these photos. His vehicle appears to be a 2004-09 GMC black lowered Sierra. I am working with law enforcement and they have allowed me to release these images but there are additional videos and pictures that they do not want me to release due to the ongoing investigation.
Please help and share this for myself and my staff, they are the best. I promise that I will see all of our supporters on the other side of the COVID crisis, and I look forward to seeing you all at the grand reopening of Dancer’s Royale.
I wanted to thank everyone in advance, the people I know and the people I do not.
At 06:03 on Saturday, April 4, a person as yet unidentified parked his black GMC vehicle in plain sight behind the club burned the club down. Other than most of the exterior structure, the club is a total loss. I am appealing to our staff, our friends, our patrons, our suppliers and the general community to help bring this person to justice. Please carefully study the photos below and help to catch this man. He is a dangerous arsonist, and he is still at large.
Whether or not you agree with the existence of our club, we have served the community as a tax-paying, legal business. We are a local employer. Agree with us or disagree with us on a ethical level, this is a crime that must be solved and those responsible punished.
My staff and I thank you again for all support. You guys are the best.
“Going to college at UCF meant having our choices of local gentlemen’s clubs be rather limited, but for my friends and I, there was only one choice, Dancers Royale,” says Kris Kay, marketing and PR director for ED Publications. “This place set the standard regarding how I perceived strip clubs—throw a party each night, whether it was a Tuesday or a Saturday—treat the customers like kings and have continuous entertainment in a super fun, safe environment. I was proud to call myself a regular at Dancers and met a lot of great people who taught me much about this industry. My heart breaks for Gene and his staff; I can only hope that reconstruction on the building happens soon. It’s really a landmark to me.”
Information for this article came from Orlando Weekly, which originally reported on the incident.
