Saltwater Cowboy stripper stands firm in face of criticism

A St. John's male stripper who goes by the stage name Saltwater Cowboy is fighting back against criticism of his act and accusations that his "advocate" stole from customers.

The exotic dancer, who identifies himself on social media as Phillip Murray, says he won't allow a negative review on Facebook to derail his business.

 "Totally untrue," Murray said of the accusations levelled at him on Facebook Wednesday by a woman named Jennifer Hennessey following a recent bachelorette party.

Repeated attempts to arrange an interview with Hennessey were unsuccessful.

Murray, however, eagerly defended himself when contacted by CBC News. 

"Anyone can accuse anybody of anything. Where is the proof?" he asked.

Somewhere else to be?

Hennesey's post also called Murray very boring and took issue with the fact that he kept checking his watch during the performance. 

She accused Murray of distracting the women at the party while his "girlfriend" went around stealing from the purses of the guests. 

"PLEASE save yourselves the torture and money and keep these folks out of your homes," Hennessey wrote in the post.

Murray is adamant that his "advocate" — basically someone who watches his back and interacts with the customers — never stole anything from the women at the party.

Keeping a little to the imagination

Murray believes the true reason for the complaint is his refusal to completely undress.

"I just think this is an opportunity for a bunch of girls that had expected me to get totally naked and go cross lines that I'm not supposed to cross and because they didn't get that," he said. 

Murray began stripping a year ago and has roughly 30 shows to his credit. He said 95 per cent of his shows have gone off without a hitch. 

"The only problem I've had is where people have booked a half-hour and they were disappointed it was over so fast," he said.

Possible legal issues 

On the legal side of things, local criminal lawyer Erin Breen says as with everything in the legal world, it comes down to truth.

If there was a theft, the women from the party could call the police. 

On the other side, if Murray and his advocate did not steal anything, Murray could have a case against his accusers.

"If he feels that these statement are false, perhaps he should follow up with a civil lawyer," said Breen. 

"If he says that these statements were knowingly false when they were made, then that's certainly something that the police can follow up on."

Publicity good for business

Murray was upset by the Facebook post, but said the controversy has been good for business. He said he's booked six performances since the critical post was published. 

Murray also credits part of his popularity on recognizing there's a lot of local demand for his services. 

"There are no male strippers in St. John's and I actually started this up based on that fact that men can get their female strippers here in St. John's but the females can't get any," said Murray. 

"So I just saw a hole and I figured I should fill it."