Samantha Barbash | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Samantha Foxx, Samantha Sbarro |
| Occupations | bar hostess, author, occupational spa owner |
| Known for | incidents from her life were dramatized into the movie Hustlers |
| Website | www.staybeautifulaesthetics.com |
Samantha Barbash is an American entrepreneur and former adult entertainment host whose real-life story with Roselyn Keo formed the basis for the film Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu. The film was adapted from Jessica Pressler's 2015 New York magazine article, "The Hustlers at Scores". Barbash later published her own memoir, Underscore.
Known professionally as Samantha Foxx, she began working in adult entertainment at age 19. She later became a hostess at Scores Gentlemen's Club in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan and at Hustlers Club in the same borough. Many of the clubs’ highest-spending clients were Wall Street brokers.
Barbash was placed on probation for five years after pleading guilty to conspiracy, assault, and grand larceny. Following her conviction, she opened a medispa offering cosmetic and aesthetic procedures under the name Stay Beautiful Aesthetics.
In 2020, Barbash filed a lawsuit against Jennifer Lopez’s production company, Nuyorican Productions, and STX Entertainment, claiming that the film Hustlers used her likeness without authorization. The case was dismissed in 2021 after a federal judge ruled that the movie was a work of fiction.
Barbash was on probation for five years after pleading guilty of conspiracy, assault and grand larceny. She's now claiming that Lopez and producers did not secure the rights to her life story.
She's the inspiration behind Jennifer Lopez's character in the upcoming movie "Hustlers," which follows street-smart former strip club employees out for revenge on their Wall Street clients.
Jessica Pressler, a contributing editor at New York Magazine, wrote "The Hustlers at Scores" article about this fishing ring, which was published in 2015. From her reporting, Pressler told ABC News that the women concocted a drug cocktail that consisted of 'Just a sprinkle of MDMA and ketamine.'
Barbash didn't participate in the film herself, saying it wasn't fully accurate. Instead, she wrote a book called Underscore, telling her version of the story.
She told The Post she plans to sue the production company behind the flick, STX Entertainment, and the Bronx-bred pop diva-turned-movie star.