Bikram Choudhury Yoga Inc files for bankruptcy

November 12, 2017 13:26

Bikram yogas founding company has filed for bankruptcy amid more than $16 million of debt following years of sexual harassment lawsuits against its founder, Bikram Choudhury.

Bikram yoga was, for a time, the most fashionable exercise among trendsetters.

Practicioners went through a series of 26 poses in a studio heated to 40 degrees, and Choudhury himself travelled the world promoting his company, styling himself as "yogi to the stars".

But accusations of sexual harassment and assault began emerging in 2013, and many of the yoga studios that promoted themselves as offering Bikram yoga have now renamed the practise as hot yoga.

Bikram Choudhury Yoga Inc, a California-based company, filed the Chapter 11 documents on Thursday in Santa Barbara.

The whereabouts of India-born Mr Choudhury, 73, are unknown.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the company listed liabilities of $10 million to $50 million, with the biggest creditors being former employees.

The first lawsuits were filed in 2013, accusing him of rape, and claiming that he enforced a cult-like atmosphere of intimidation.

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