When I see that there’s a Fort Lauderdale party on the agenda for my time with Dennis Rodman, I get nervous. Not only because we’re in Florida, where COVID surges seemed to be happening every week, but because this is Dennis Rodman we’re talking about. I have no idea how to prepare for whatever could go down at a party hosted by one of the most notorious partiers of all time.
The festivities are set to take place at Salt7, which bills itself as an upscale steakhouse that pulls double duty as a nightclub. He arrives in a black SUV to a crowd anticipating the full Dennis Rodman experience, and he’s delivering with his look: His hair is dyed neon orange, and he’s wearing leopard-print sweats with a teal tank that features a flamingo in the middle. Custom Crocs and light-tinted shades, to show off his gold eyeshadow, complete the fit. Cigar in hand, he makes his way over to the red carpet, all of the representatives for his new venture clearing a path, and poses for pictures. A jogger on her evening run stops in her tracks to call a friend about the scene she’s come across, and I can hear her say “Dennis Rodman… that’s a crazy thing to run up on.”
Tonight’s party is a promotional event for a line of male supplements that Rodman has recently begun endorsing—a product called ManTFup, which is supposed to “improve energy levels” and “increase vitality” or something. It’s the kind of product you might see advertised on daytime ESPN with a wink and a nod toward heterosexual virility. Dennis, to his credit, doesn’t try to sell me very hard. “I think a lot of companies don’t want to fuck with me,” he says in his typical half mumble. “[But this is] all healthy stuff. It’s pretty much just vitamins. If you want to do it, do it. Shit, whatever.” He may not be an enthusiastic pitchman, but he is, at 60, still unapologetically himself.