Shalimar Seiuli, (July 6, 1976 – April 22, 1998) known professionally as Shalimar or Atisone Seiuli, was an American Samoan

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

dancer and public figure who gained infamy when she was seen getting into the car of the actor Eddie Murphy. On May 2, 1997, Seiuli, a sex worker, was being watched by police before getting into Murphy's SUV. Seiuli was unaware of who the driver was. Murphy was pulled over by police, questioned for thirty minutes, then released, while Seiuli was arrested for an outstanding warrant on prostitution charges. Murphy claimed he was just being a "good Samaritan" by giving Seiuli a ride home. Overnight, the story made headlines, and was later parodied on an episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''. ''

The National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...

'' paid Seiuli's $15,000 bond in exchange for exclusive details on her ride with Murphy.

Early life

Seiuli was born to a devout

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

family in the village of Mesepa, American Samoa. From a young age Seiuli identified as female, adopting the name "Shalimar" after the imported French fragrance as a teenager. Seiuli was the cheerleading captain at

Leone High School Leone High School is a senior high school in Vailoatai and Leone, in the Western District, American Samoa. It is operated by the American Samoa Department of Education. It is the second-largest high school on Tutuila Island. It was opened in ...

and was crowned Miss American Samoan Island Queen in 1993. By 1996, Seiuli moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where she began her medical transition from male appearance to female appearance via

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal ...

. She funded her transition through sex work on

Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes through Beverly Hills and West Ho ...

, a street notorious for transgender prostitution.

Arrest and subsequent infamy

At 4:55 AM on May 2, 1997, Los Angeles Police officers followed and pulled over a

Toyota Land Cruiser The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...

after watching Shalimar enter the vehicle. It was then discovered that the driver was actor Eddie Murphy. Murphy was questioned before being released because nothing illegal had occurred; however, Seiuli was arrested for an outstanding warrant for prostitution and sentenced to 90 days in jail. By morning, the story made international news, with the tabloid ''

'' paying Shalimar's fifteen thousand dollar bond in exchange for details on her arrest. "It's unfair I went to jail while Eddie Murphy walked away scot-free", she told the ''Enquirer''. Murphy claimed he was just being a "good Samaritan" by offering Seiuli a ride home. He denied any premeditated intention to solicit a sex worker and denied knowing Seiuli was a "male prostitute". ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' reported that the truth of Murphy's account of events was being questioned due to the fact that "when stopped, he was some distance past Seiuli's reported residence," and there was no apparent reason for the actor to be in that area at that time other than soliciting sex. Murphy hired Hollywood private eye Paul Barresi to help defuse the scandal, paying other trans women who had sold stories up to $15,000 per retraction. Seiuli claimed to have received threats since her encounter with Murphy, as she refused to change her story. Due to Seiuli's rising celebrity status, she filmed an erotic movie and left prostitution to become the House Madame of the nightclub, 7969, in which she performed erotic routines as a

dominatrix A dominatrix (; ) or femdom is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily limit the genders of her submissive partners. Dominatrices are known for infli ...

with live snakes.

Death

On April 22, 1998, a neighbor in Seiuli's apartment building found her dead on the sidewalk outside the building. Discovered wearing only her bra, pants and a towel, police suspected Shalimar was locked out of her apartment, and tried to use a towel as a rope to slide or swing down from the roof to an open window. Instead, she fell five floors and suffered severe head trauma, resulting in her death, which was classified as accidental. The coroner's report stated someone heard a scream at 5 o'clock in the morning, which is believed to indicate the time of Seiuli's death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seiuli, Shalimar 1998 deaths American prostitutes American Samoan LGBT people American transgender women American transgender entertainers American LGBT dancers Transgender women entertainers Transgender prostitutes Transgender dancers 1976 births 20th-century American LGBT people People from Western District, American Samoa Accidental deaths from falls