Leah McSweeney’s sober dating app, Club Pillar, hosted its first in-person event with artistes of abstinence including Cat Marnell, TikTok star Kelsey Soles and McSweeney herself all on the scene.
The bash at Bisou in Tribeca featured sober singles, 1980s grooves, burlesque dancers, mocktails from Aplos and QR-coded condoms.
We’re told the “ambience matched the application’s aesthetic: red, sexy and mysterious.”
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The app calls itself the “first sober private members community” and says it “seeks to redefine dating and social experiences for those committed to a sober lifestyle or looking to cut back on drinking.”
CEO Jessie Urvater told us of the party, “this is the only beginning . . . We will have three more events in NYC before [the official] launch and each event will be filled with surprises and stimulations.”
The event marked something of a fresh start for McSweeney, we’re told, after leaving the “Real Housewives of New York City.” As an adviser and “creative lead” on the project, we hear she saw it as a chance to move on and put life as a reality star behind her.
McSweeney is currently suing Bravo over her time on the show.
Announcing the project on Instagram in February, the Married to the Mob designer wrote, “My sober journey has been long and tumultuous and somewhat public (at least the last 4 years of it). I have experienced first-hand the stigma and judgment surrounding alcohol use disorder but also the stigma surrounding sobriety or choosing NOT to drink.”
She added that as “the first sober private members community,” Club Pillar “seeks to redefine dating and social experiences for those committed to a sober lifestyle or looking to cut back on drinking.”
McSweeney said that the community will use an invite-only model designed to create “a selective, safe group of members.”
“This is not only for people in recovery but people who just don’t love getting wasted or drinking,” she added.
