New Yorkers love a scandal.

A nd in 2014, a cause célèbre about a criminal ring of women who drugged men and stole their money dominated tabloid headlines for months.

“Hustlers,” a movie about that scandal starring Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B, will hit theaters on Friday. It is based on a 2015 New York magazine story about the women and their exploits. But long before that, the case was a subject of fascination among New York’s news media, largely because it seemed so improbable.

[Read The New York Times review of “Hustlers.”]

It started when a strip club sued a cardiologist.

“‘I was drugged’: Doctor refuses to pay $135K strip club bill,” blared a headline in The New York Post on April 22, 2014. That doctor, Zyad Younan, a cardiologist who lived in New Jersey, was sued by Scores, a strip club in Chelsea, which accused him of not paying $135,000 charged to his American Express card. The lawsuit said that the doctor spent tens of thousands of dollars in late 2013 on tips for dancers and room rentals during several visits to the club.

Dr. Younan claimed that he was either drugged or not there. Scores said it had videotape of him with several women. “This happens every once in awhile,” a representative for Scores told The Post. “People get out of control with their credit cards.”