Ashman is a nightlife vet who used to run the Plumm on West 14th Street.

A native Manhattanite, Ashman's been bouncing around the nightlife scene for years. A party promoter back when he was in high school and college, in the 1990s he opened hotspots Veruka and Studio 54. (Not that Studio 54, but the short-lived reincarnation that never really caught fire.) He later took over the 1980s fixture Nell's on West 14th Street, renaming it NA. After the club closed its doors in 2005 amid controversy and lawsuits, Ashman reopened the space as the Plumm in 2006. A longtime celebrity hanger-on, Ashman has always sought out boldface names as partners in his various ventures. The Plumm was no exception: Ashman's investors supposedly included Chris Noth, Damon Dash, and Mark Wahlberg. But even Ashman's celebrity pals couldn't prevent the club from closing its doors in 2009.

These days it seems Ashman doesn't just want to surround himself with celebs—he wants to be one. He's produced several films, TV shows, and plays with his production company Co-Op, including Mind the Gap and Never Again, both of which he had small parts in. He also made a brief cameo on VH1's My Coolest Years in 2004 to reminisce about, well, his coolest years. [Image via Getty, with Damon Dash and Boggie Dash]