See Photos of the Women Who Inspired J.Lo and Constance Wu's Hustlers Characters (2024)

• Hustlers—starring Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B, Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Julia Stiles, and Lizzo—hits theaters on September 12.
• The movie is inspired by Jessica Pressler's New York article "The Hustlers at Scores," and it closely follows the real-life women behind the scam, who were eventually arrested and charged but received little to no jail time.
• But who is Samantha Barbash (played by Lopez), and what is she up to today? And what did Roselyn Keo (played by Wu) do after her world came crashing down? We've got the answers, but know this: there are spoilers—and plenty of photos—ahead.

Before Jennifer Lopez was offering Constance Wu pointers on how to grip a stripper pole with ease, former real-life strip club employees Samantha Barbash and Roselyn Keo and company were unknowingly committing the misdeeds that would soon become fodder for a Hollywood feature.

Barbash and Keo, who swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars out of New York’s wealthiest men, were the ringleaders of a master plan that involved drugging strip club regulars, swiping their credit cards, and emptying their bank accounts. Seemingly flawless, their cunning scheme targeted married men who worked on Wall Street, as the consequences of filing formal complaints or having the Mrs. find out would prove too steep.

In the end, the core quartet—Barbash and Keo, plus exotic entertainers Karina Pascucci and Marsi Rosen—were all arrested and charged.

The film, which is directed by Lorene Scafaria (New Girl) and comes out in theaters September 12, also stars Cardi B, Keke Palmer, Lily Reinhart, and Julia Stiles. It is based on a 2015 article written by Jessica Pressler for New York magazine.

At the conclusion of Pressler’s article, the women were preparing for sentencing, “desperate to avoid jail time.” But that was almost five years ago. So where are Samantha Barbash, Roselyn Keo, Karina Pascucci, and Marsi Rosen today? Below, we catch up with the ladies, all of whom were indeed able to avoid jail time. Well, for the most part anyway.

Roselyn Keo, one of the ringleading scammers, got off with a wrist-slap.

Keo, played by Constance Wu in the film, is a Rockland County, New York, native. The neon lights of Manhattan’s jiggle clubs lured her to the Big Apple, where she took the bull by the horns in a market of getting rich quick. With Barbash’s help, the two stole enough money from Wall Street traders and club regulars to line their closets with designer labels and outfit their garages with luxury vehicles.

In November 2014, however, the jig was up. Keo took a plea deal. “I thought about it, and I’m, like, the only one of those girls that’s normal, with a brain on my head, with a child and a future,” she told Pressler. Though the terms of the deal are cloudy, in March 2016, Keo, then 33, confessed to grand larceny and attempted assault in exchange for no jail time. She got five years’ probation instead.

“She’s ready to start rebuilding her life for her and her daughter,” said defense lawyer Samuel Gregory, per the New York Post.

She’s written a book about her story.

Available for pre-sale now, The Sophisticated Hustler promises to detail the hustler at work. “You’re gonna laugh, you’re gonna cry, you’re gonna say, ‘Oh, sh-t,’” Keo teases in the book trailer on her site.

In her interview with New York, Keo mentioned her desire to follow in the “motivational” footsteps of The Wolf of Wall Street author Jordan Belfort. Perhaps, this is that initial step.

Today, Keo is raising her daughter, who she dedicates her book to. “This book is dedicated to the person that helped me become a better mother, a better person back then and today... Everything I do is for you. Thank you for saving my life,” Keo wrote on Instagram.

And she’s thrilled about the film.

Though Keo, who offered the women’s incredible story to Pressler, changed her tune claiming the story she gave to Pressler was complete fiction, she can’t wait for the film to hit theaters. Her Instagram feed is flooded with posts promoting Hustlers. And, um, she even met J.Lo.

And Constance Wu.

Samantha Barbash, the brains of the operation, is suing Jennifer Lopez.

In April 2017, Barbash, then 43, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, assault, and grand larceny in exchange for five years’ probation. Today, she’s reliving the tribulation. Or a version of it. Barbash claims the film is based on an article that is full of falsities. She plans to explore all venues for legal action.

“They’re going off a false story. I was not a stripper. Everything—where [J-Lo] is going on poles and stuff—that’s not me,” the New York Post reported. She called the ordeal a “living nightmare” and told the Post, “It’s my story she’s making money off of. If she wants to play me, then she should have gotten the real story. … They should have worked with me instead of against me.”

Her lawyer, however, told Page Six, “We plan on seeing the movie before deciding on what steps to take.”

Barbash has also written a book. Because, of course.

It’s titled Underscore and is set to hit shelves later this month. Claiming Hustlers is a farce, Barbash ensures her written story from cover to cover is the truth, detailing her nights with entertainment moguls and Fortune 500 CEOs.

In an excerpt published on Page Six, Barbash wrote, “My clients were mostly VIP clients at Scores and Hustler . . . My job was to provide the fun parts, such as the girls and setting the vibe . . . I would arrange for the hottest girls to come to parties. These girls made top dollar and had to have perfect bodies with beautiful faces to match. Then came the ‘fluffers.’ These were the lower tier of girls who would do the ‘dirty work.’ Sometimes their tasks would include an array of sexual activity . . . These parties always came with huge payouts for me and the girls.”

When she’s not putting pen to paper, Barbash, now 45, runs a spa.

Marsi Rosen is attempting to stay out of the public eye.

Sentenced to four months of weekends behind bars after pleading guilty to charges of grand larceny and conspiracy, Rosen traded her designer duds for a jumpsuit.

According to New York, Rosen lived near Barbash in Bayside and was recruited by Barbash to be one of the pretty faces of the operation. Once Barbash had an interested client on the line, Rosen and Pascucci were tasked with meeting their targets at secret locations, getting them drunk, then steering them toward the club.

Rosen, for the most part, has managed to lived quietly out of the public eye since her sentencing and weekend jail stints.

Karina Pascucci did not enjoy weekends behind bars.

Pascucci, who started out as a massage girl at Scores and was promoted to one of Barbash and Keo’s go-to “fishing” women (vixens who lured men into the clubs only to be extorted), got candid with a reporter for Crime Watch Daily in 2015, at first confessing to her role in the scheme, then flip-flopping to claim innocence.

Nevertheless, in January 2016, Pascucci was sentenced to weekends in a Rikers cell for four months and five years’ probation. Her agreement with prosecutors had her plead guilty to conspiracy, grand larceny, and other raps. And from the sound of it, she did not enjoy those weekends behind bars. “I have too much on my mind right now, I’d prefer not to speak about it,” Pascucci said to the Post at the time.

The cardiologist who tumbled the ladies’ house of cards was cleared.

In 2018, a judge cleared New Jersey cardiologist Zyad Younan of his $135,000 strip club tab, per the Miami Herald. Pascucci, who is the woman the doctor referenced in his formal complaint to police, claims she was the victim of a regular who refused to pay his tabs. “The girls knew him from before, and they knew he was a big spender,” she said. “I think everybody should take responsibility for what happened.”

We’ll just have to wait a little longer to see for ourselves what happened. Or a version of it.

Hustlers hits theaters on September 12.

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