Who owns R House Wynwood? Ron DeSantis probe into 'nude' drag show involving children could see outlet shut
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has ordered a high-profile investigation into a Miami-based restaurant that hosted a controversial drag show where children were present. The strict action was taken by the Florida governor after a video of a nude dancer parading a young girl in the restaurant went viral on social media.
The video that went viral captured a little girl, who appears to be aged between two and four, being walked around the R House Wynwood restaurant by a drag queen exposing her bare breast with pasties and a thong filled with money.
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The controversial video was posted by the drag queen on her TikTok account with a caption, "Children belong at drag shows!!!! Children deserve to see the fun & expression & freedom." It didn’t take much time for the DeSantis administration to notice the video and file a complaint against the Miami restaurant. The complaint filed by the administration claimed "the sexualized nature of the Brunch performances is pervasive", while citing multiple instances in which children attended the performances of nearly naked dancers.
An adult performer in a thong with cash sticking out performs with a young child at the R House Wynwood drag venue and restaurant in Miami for Pride month. pic.twitter.com/4mbi9n2Qgc
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) July 3, 2022
On Wednesday, DeSantis spoke on the controversial matter at a public press conference. "There was a video out of Dallas where they had all these young kids putting money in the underwear of these drag queens at a bar, and that's unacceptable, and I said that at the time," DeSantis said while addressing the video.
He continued, "So we said, 'wait a minute, having kids involved in this is wrong,' that is not consistent with our law and policy in the state of Florida and it is a disturbing trend in our society to try to sexualize these young people. That is not the way you look out for our children. You protect children. You do not expose them to inappropriate things."
Meanwhile, DailyMail.com obtained the complaint filed by DeSantis' administration which argues that "Florida Statutes, prohibits unlawful exposure of sexual organs. Specifically, it provides that 'exposing or exhibiting ... sexual organs in public or on private premises of another... in a vulgar or indecent manner' is unlawful.'
Who owns R House Wynwood?
After all the chaos that viral video created, fingers are being pointed at the owner of the restaurant. The popular R House is owned by Rocco Carulli, who was inspired by the potential of pre-gentrification Wynwood and laid the foundation of the restaurant back in 2011. After leading a successful restaurant business in Provincetown, MA, for 13 years, chef Rocco launched Rocco's House which is now popularly known as R House. Apart from being the owner of the restaurant, Carulli is also the head chef at the restaurant. In partnership with chef Rocco, Cindy Reynolds also owns a big stakes in R House. The chair of the director of R House is being handled by Owen Bale, while Federico Llauro is handling the position of general manager.
