from The New York Post

Inside the shady world of promoters who recruit ‘hot girls’ for parties

By Raquel Laneri

Author Ashley Mears joined promoters and models at clubs like 1OAK to get a behind-the-scenes look at the high-class — and tawdry — world of “Very Important People.”
Author Ashley Mears joined promoters and models at clubs like 1OAK to get a behind-the-scenes look at the high-class — and tawdry — world of “Very Important People.” Patrick McMullan via Getty Image

For years, Ashley Mears would get text messages from Thibault,* a Manhattan club promoter she met when she was a model in the early 2000s.

“He would always text the same thing, like, ‘Oh baby, sushi dinner this weekend. Are you coming?’ ” recalled Mears.

Still, she never blocked his messages. Plenty of her acquaintances knew Thibault: He and his crew were notorious for hanging around modeling agencies, pursuing beautiful young women to fill VIP tables at exclusive nightclubs like 1OAK and Lavo. And she remained intrigued.

So, finally, in 2011 — after she had left New York City for a sociology professorship at Boston University — she responded to one of his invites.

“I was like, ‘I’m curious about this sushi dinner. Yeah, I’ll come,’ ” she said.

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