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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 Tampa businessman, activist, and “Strip Club King” Joe Redner died Friday morning at 86, his family confirmed.<\/p>\n
One of Redner’s children, Joy Lynn Redner, posted<\/a> the announcement to her father’s Facebook page at around 10 p.m. on Oct. 16.<\/p>\n “We love you. You will be missed Dad. Joe Redner passed away this morning. He died peacefully in his sleep,’ she wrote.<\/p>\n His lawyer, Luke Lirot, confirmed to 8 On Your Side that Redner died after his lung cancer came back.<\/p>\n “He was so wonderful to have given me the privilege to work with him. I would never be who I am without him,” Lirot said. \u00a0<\/p>\n Redner, originally from New Jersey, was best known as the long-time owner and operator of Mons Venus, a strip club he opened in 1981 on Dale Mabry.<\/p>\n But he also made a name for himself in local politics and political activism<\/a>, advocating for medical marijuana and gay pride events.<\/p>\n He also found himself at the center of legal battles with local governments, which fought him on having fully nude performers in his clubs.<\/p>\n The “world famous” Mons Venus club was sold in 2025 to 2001 Odyssey, according to the Tampa Bay Times<\/a>, but Redner maintained ownership of the land and acted as the business’s landlord.<\/p>\n Redner celebrated wins and suffered losses throughout his time as an activist and business owner, but solidified himself as a central figure in Tampa’s adult entertainment industry and is credited with helping put it on the map.<\/p>\n