Madonna’s name comes up in strip-club trial

The name of pop star Madonna has come up in the racketeering trial of Atlanta strip-club owner Steve Kaplan, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Prosecutors in the case are charging that Kaplan encouraged his staff to provide sexual favors to celebrity clients in order to promote repeat business and raise the club’s profile, a charge Kaplan denies. Former club manager George Kontos, however, testifies that Madonna once visited the club and asked Kontos if she could leave with a dancer using the stage name “Baby.” The request was OK’d, though Kontos does not say what happened afterward. Liz Rosenberg, spokeswoman for Madonna, claims that the singer has not been in Atlanta “for years and years, so I don’t think it could have happened,” adding, “I don’t know if it’s anything that Madonna would be ashamed of, by the way.”