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King of Diamonds, an adult entertainment club, is legendary. Rappers have immortalized the club and its employees through various references, personal parties, and videos shot in its locations. Given the club’s reputation, there are people who are legitimately opposed to having this wonderful place of business in their cities. When news broke that one might be opening in Miami Beach, there was fierce opposition to keep the mythical club off its island.
Angry emails have circulated around South Beach, with some business owners and residents planning to meet this evening to plan a campaign against the project.
“KOD is a huge concern for Miami Beach, its residents and its businesses,” writes a resident named David Richards in one mass email. “I have been coming to Miami Beach for the last 25 years, own a condo and hoped to spend my retirement years here but not if KOD opens. KOD will change Miami Beach forever. I (and everyone I have talked to) sincerely believes that KOD needs to be STOPPED NOW.”
Miami Beach currently has a ban on new strip clubs. Mitch Novick, owner of the Sherbrooke Hotel, doesn’t believe that will be a deterrent. He thinks KoD to Ocean Drive is “already a done deal. I know how this city works,” he says. “They’ll find a loophole, whether it’s that they can’t serve alcohol or that they’ll have to wear nipple pasties, they’ll find a way.”
To make matters even more complicated, an update to the article stated that the King of Diamonds establishment trying to open up on Ocean Drive isn’t actually affiliated with the club.
“The ownership of King of Diamonds has nothing to do with this South Beach club. They’re still determining what to do,” says Daniel Sands, an attorney representing KOD.”
As it turns out, this was much ado about nothing, as there isn’t an actual King of Diamonds opening up on Miami Beach at all. Former King of Diamonds manager Akinyele Adams, yes, Mr. “Put It In Your Mouth” himself, isn’t opening a new strip joint. He’s opening a new soul food restaurant.
“Residents were under the influence that we were going to do a strip club with nudity or something like that but we’re not doing no type of nudity, we just want to be like every other restaurant out here that’s gonna have beautiful people, beautiful food,” he said.
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Adams believed racism was the reasoning for the backlash. He called the public outcry “a modern day lynching because it is a black-owned establishment.” Despite the rumors and outrage though, Adams has promised to “do everything by the book.”
As an aside, there’s already a King of Diamonds in Miami. It’s just not in Miami Beach.
Despite the similarity in names, there’s a difference between Miami, the city, and Miami Beach. Miami Beach is to Miami what Manhattan is to New York City. South Beach, made popular by just about every celebrity in the known universe, is the southernmost part of Miami Beach.
In simpler terms, Miami is a city, Miami Beach is that portion floating off the coast of Florida and South Beach is essentially a large neighborhood housed on Miami Beach.
