Inside The Studios, the ‘social club’ in the middle of the sex doll controversy

The owner of The Studios, billed as a “fluid gender social lifestyle club,” said the club in central Las Vegas shouldn’t be confused with the sex doll operation temporarily located on the same property.

“We’ve been there six years, and we’ve never had a problem with anybody until today,” owner Joyce Judge said Tuesday.

That’s the day the Las Vegas Review-Journal published a story raising concerns that the property, located at 5150 S. Pecos Road, was being used as a sex club and sex doll brothel.

In a Jan. 31 email, Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said code enforcement had an open case on the property.

The case “was initiated by a complaint that the property owners are operating a business without a license,” he wrote. “No other complaints since 2017.”

County records show that The Studios was licensed in 2016 to operate as an educational institution under the name Fluid Lifestyles Learning Center, but no licensing records could be found for Las Vegas Sex Dolls Experience, which was operating at the same location.

Judge, 73, called The Studios a “social venue for all persuasions.” She did not deny that it operates as a sex club.

“If people have sex, they’re doing it in some of the private rooms,” she said.

Photos from The Studios’ website showcase rooms outfitted with beds, couches, televisions, at least one stripper pole and bondage equipment.

Judge said Sex Dolls Experience rented retail space on the property from just before Christmas until the end of January.

“They indicated to me that they were selling the dolls,” she said.

On Tuesday, Judge said she was still waiting for the key to the space to be returned. She said she had not seen the website for Sex Dolls Experience until Tuesday.

According to the website, Sex Dolls Experience offers customers the chance to spend time interacting with sex dolls in a private room at an undisclosed hourly rate, prompting one licensed sex worker to describe it as a “sex doll brothel.”

Sex Dolls Experience declined to comment and made several changes to its website last week after being contacted by the Review-Journal.

At first, its website invited customers to “indulge in the ultimate sexual experience,” but the next day it stated that Sex Dolls Experience allows prospective buyers to “try” dolls before purchasing them.

It also added the statement, “We are not a brothel!!”

Judge said the more than 6,000-square-foot property, near Tropicana Avenue, is owned by a church. According to the Clark County assessor’s website, it is owned by Circles of Light Investment Fund LLC.

An online calendar for The Studios lists multiple events for couples in February that are free with a donation for the homeless.

Judge said the property also is used by film crews. Though an image on the website says “be a porn star,” she said she wasn’t aware of any pornography being filmed on-site.

Contact Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0361. Follow @CarriGeer on Twitter. Staff writer Max Michor contributed to this report.