In Netflix’s Halston, the new biopic series from Ryan Murphy, fashion mogul Halston and his clan of celebrities and friends are whisked past the wannabe clubgoers waiting in line, and into the legendary New York club Studio 54 each night. Inside those highly exclusive, shimmering walls, anything goes—sex, drugs, booze, and even taking photos atop live horses.

As is conveyed in the series, the velvet-roped door was so difficult to enter, it became dangerous. The fourth episode shows one desperate patron enter through a side door and attempt to crawl through an internal vent to land inside the club’s main room. However, she gets stuck, and we later learn that she was found dead in the vent. It’s a shocking detail—one that accurately depicts how exclusive Studio 54 really was, and how far the average New York City clubgoer might go for a chance at getting inside. It also is a true story.