The club where a stripper fell from a two-storey pole has said the dancer is responsible for her own injuries.
Exotic dancer Genea Sky lost her grip on the 15-foot pole while performing at the adult entertainment club XTC Cabaret in Texas last Saturday, February 8.
She crashed head-first to the ground, but incredibly continued her routine by breaking out into a twerk.
Genea sprained her ankle, fractured her jaw and broke some teeth as a result of the incident, which XTC Cabaret is taking no responsibility for.
Eric Langan, CEO of RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc., which owns the club, told TMZ the entertainers choose their own routine, meaning no one told Genea to climb as high as she did.
As a company, RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc. exercises no control over a dancer’s art form, therefore any incidents that occur during the routine are the dancer’s responsibility.
Langan said XTC Cabaret has no plans to remove the club’s poles as a result of the incident, though the company is looking into helping Genea financially.
As the exotic dancer is not a full-time employee at XTC Cabaret, she doesn’t qualify for worker’s compensation.
Genea doesn’t appear to be placing any blame on the club, as she told her Twitter followers that as soon as she’s ‘healed and cleared to work again’ she will be back putting on the same show at XTC Cabaret.
The dancer underwent surgery on her jaw yesterday, February 10, and later shared an Instagram post to announce it had gone well.
Genea thanked her followers for their kind words and support in the aftermath of the incident, writing:
Everyone’s love & kind words have not gone unnoticed whatsoever and it means so much to me that all of you have blessed me and uplifted me in so many ways.
I am overwhelmed in the best way by all the support. I was really nervous as this all started blowing up because people are cruel and this is a very sensitive time for me.
But I never imagined so many people would stand behind me in a situation like this and that has outweighed all the negativity by far. I am beyond grateful for you all.
The performer went on to admit she is in a ‘tremendous amount of pain’, but she’s ready to get on the road to recovery so she can ‘get back to [her] life’.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help cover Genea’s medical bills, and it has since exceeded its target of $20,000.
Hopefully Genea will be able to get back to her routine soon enough!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.