Chargettes urged to be sexy

According to ESPN.com,the Chargers’ cheeerleaders of the late 1970s got double-crossed. Sidelined, a movie about the episode, was shown late last month at the Tribeca Film Festival. The gist of the film is that the Chargers cheerleaders, then called Chargettes, were recruited on the basis of sex appeal, then thrown under the bus when they posed for Playboy.

The cheerleaders were expected to display their sex appeal when they tried out for the job, according to the film. Indeed, they were told so by letter. Playboy visited a practice. Many of the cheerleaders were persuaded to pose nude, or close to it. Playboy offered $500 for posing topless and up to $1500 for posing in the nude.

Although the team had told young women they should show their sex at tryouts, the Chargers fired the whole squad before the Playboy issue came out.