Powerful LA Nightlife Operators Under Scrutiny for Serving Alcohol to Underage Celebrities

H.Wood Group, the prominent nightlife company responsible for buzzy West Hollywood spots like Bootsy Bellows, Blind Dragon, Delilah, and 40 Love, has been allegedly serving alcohol to underage celebrity clients for years, according to Insider. The report comes in the wake of a Los Angeles County civil suit filed by former Delilah employee, Bennett Sipes, who was allegedly beaten outside of his place of work last year. Insider says that, after learning of the lawsuit, they started looking into H.Wood and discovered a company culture that caters — sometimes illegally — to celebrities who want to drink underage.

According to Insider, Bootsy Bellows wasn’t ever cited for allowing Justin Bieber to drink underage back in 2014. And they say the issue has continued. Recently, “several former employees” told Insider that “underage drinking is a regular occurrence at H.Wood properties, especially among the famous clientele.” They mentioned Kylie Jenner and Chloe Grace Moretz as examples. The former employees went on to tell Insider that management would ignore their concerns about serving underage clientele and “they were told to break the law anyway.”

Additional former employees claimed the culture of underage drinking included The Nice Guy and the Peppermint Club. According to a former Peppermint Club worker, some clientele circumvented the 21-and-over door policy by entering with a club promoter.

Meanwhile, in an October 23 article, Insider accused the H.Wood Group’s public relations firm, EMC Bowery, of trying to kill their story about Sipes’ lawsuit, wherein he claims that the rapper Drake directed his security team to carry out the brutal attack.

Eater reached out to EMC Bowery for a statement, but has not heard back yet.

• Drake’s favorite restaurant is known to let underage celebrities drink alcohol there [Business Insider]
• The 16 Essential West Hollywood Restaurants, Summer 2019 [ELA]