Ossiana Tepfenhart
Playboy Extraordinaire
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With all the celebrity hotshots who attended his restaurant, it came as no surprise that Hiroaki Aoki quickly gained a large group of A-lister friends. As a result, he regularly found himself in wild, cocaine-fueled parties as well as circles that involved lots of sex scandals.
Much like his father, Rocky was a playboy. At one point, he boasted that he “fathered three kids from three different women at the same time.”
Unsurprisingly, he had multiple marriages–two of which were ended after it was revealed that he was cheating on his then-wife. One of the divorces happened when he suffered a speedboat accident near the Golden Gate Bridge. The discovery happened after his wife and mistress both met while visiting him in the hospital.
Though the playboy behavior may have wreaked havoc on his love life, it definitely acted as inspiration for his professional life. He used that same over-the-top energy to create Benihana into a massive party brand.
Throughout the 80s, the world witnessed Rocky Aoki pull a wild series of stunts using the Benihana name. Some of his stunts included a record-breaking hot air balloon fight, owning a Benihana yacht, having a Benihana race car, as well as having a beauty pageant devoted to the chain.
At one point in 1984, America celebrated Benihana Day. If that isn’t insane, we don’t know what is.