Channing Tatum accused of stealing stripper moves, potentially spoiling artistic integrity of Magic Mike

Threatening to lend an air of sordidness to its male stripper revue, two of leading bulge Channing Tatum's former dance partners have accused him of lifting their signature moves for Magic Mike, without so much as cramming a wadded-up consulting credit down their metaphorical shorts. The Tampa-based duo of Thomas "Awesome" Austin and London Steele (not to be confused with the Supreme Court justices) made the initial thrusts of their sweaty, sexy, intellectual property theft allegations at TMZ, saying that Tatum had worked alongside them during the four-month period when he was more explicitly taking his shirt off for money, and that the film borrows heavily from their personal stories—and much more seriously, from their well-honed crotch choreography. Along with claiming that he'd coined the name "Magic Mike" for one of their fellow dancers, Austin specifically singled out a move known as the "Hot Seat" that he says he invented, presumably after hours of tinkering in the lab with angle and velocity variables, only to have Tatum lift it wholesale—much like Thomas Edison stole the light bulb from Joseph Swan, then stuck his ass in his face.