The Party Girl at 30
Charlotte’s Brittney Cason is shifting gears, but she’s not slowing down.
By Théoden Janes
Charlotte Observer
Brittney Cason is turning heads as her heels click on the Tryon Street sidewalk.
Maybe those two older gentlemen recognize her. After all, she’s been on TV, as a reporter for ESPNU and the auto-racing-focused TV series “Three Wide Life.” Or perhaps she looks familiar to that young guy over there because he frequents some of the nightclubs where she has hosted parties and fundraisers.
Then again, the brunette is wearing an open jacket over a tight-fitting tank top with a neckline that doesn’t seem to stop plunging.
Cason has used her looks, her hustle and her determination to eke out a good living as something of a minor celebrity in Charlotte, bouncing from freelance job to freelance job (she drew paychecks from more than a dozen employers last year).
Now, on the eve of her 30th birthday, she might be about to catch a truly big break – all because she sent a bestselling author an e-mail with a subject line that read “I’m a hot girl.”
Brittney Cason grew up in Harrisonburg, Va., the fourth child of David and Mary Lynn Cason (and by far the youngest – her siblings were all teenagers by the time she was born).
She was a rebellious middle-schooler. She got pinched for underage drinking – not on school property, but the administration found out about it and kicked her off the cheerleading team. She got suspended after stealing an answer key from her math teacher, making copies of it, and selling them to classmates. But she calmed down in high school, and by the time she reached Virginia Tech, she was acing most of her classes.
After settling on a double major in communications and human development, Cason attempted to satisfy a writing itch by marching into the student newspaper offices and declaring, “‘I want to be a writer.’ … I basically banged on their door until they hired me.”
At the Collegiate Times, she launched a sex and relationships column, which she parlayed into a post-college job as an editorial assistant for Maxim magazine in New York. She got bored after a year, moved back to Harrisonburg, spent a few months as a creative director at a broadcasting company, got bored and moved to Charlotte.
Building a following
Since arriving here in 2005, Cason hasn’t had time to get bored. She used her writing samples from Maxim to land nightlife columns with Creative Loafing and Elevate Lifestyle magazine. On the side, she started teaching hip-hop at the Dowd YMCA. As fate would have it, one of the women in her class was a Panthers cheerleader.
“She said my hip-hop was really good … and that I should definitely audition,” Cason says. “They wanted to do more hip-hop because a lot of their dance is very ‘cheer’ dance.”
After her one season with the TopCats, she didn’t return. “I didn’t hate it, but it took all the fun out of dancing. Nowadays, I really enjoy my seats on the club level because I’m indoors, and I get to wear clothes to the games.”
Meanwhile, her columns were building a following, and her association with the Panthers helped to sex up her image. Doors opened. A radio appearance here. A TV gig there. More freelance writing opportunities.
Bars were regularly asking her to host or emcee events, and she uploaded lots of flirty, flattering photos of herself to Facebook. She became a recognizable Charlotte socialite, landing on “who’s hot” lists like Uptown magazine’s “7 Sexiest” and – most recently – Elevate Lifestyle’s “Charlotte’s Top 30 Under 30.”
‘Having a good time’
Christopher Frederick (aka Brotha’ Fred, host of WIBT-FM’s morning show) appeared on these lists regularly. He says Cason has done a good job getting her name out and keeping it there.
“I know ‘Sex and the City’ isn’t cool anymore, but she took a stab at the local ‘Carrie’ role. … Naturally, I applaud anyone who is outspoken and who can generate even the smallest degree of chatter in a clever way.”
Cason also has a reputation as a relentless networker.
Says Larken Egleston, another freelance nightlife personality who is a brand ambassador for Remy Cointreau in Charlotte: “She’s put herself in a lot of positions to meet important people in Charlotte … and has made the most of those opportunities. … In general, she just loves to be around people and make sure that they and she are all having a good time.”
She does take her share of flak, though.
In a more notorious instance, she posted a blog entry for Creative Loafing in November 2009 about an encounter with homeless people (she was doing volunteer work) that many construed as insensitive; after taking fire, the item disappeared briefly and then reappeared with a much softer tone.
At the time, Meck Deck blogger Jeff Taylor blasted her and her editors.
“The professional and adult response to whatever fire-storm Cason’s original account set off would be to write a new post on them, explain the rationale for the original, maybe apologize, maybe not, engage in a back and forth with the detractors. … You know, journalism,” wrote Taylor, who blogs for the conservative John Locke Foundation website.
Says Cason: “I didn’t offer any explanation for my edits because I didn’t feel I owed anyone one. … Besides, while they’re sitting around hidden behind a computer screen barking at me for my writing, I’m the one out feeding the homeless and spreading awareness.”
She also seems to draw out plenty of haters.
Earlier in 2009, photos of Cason popped up on TheDirty.com, which posts pics of partiers and mocks them ruthlessly. Although plenty of people rushed to her defense, several posters unleashed on her.
“Self-absorbed,” wrote one.
“I cringe every time I … see her articles,” another said.
And: “This chick is so fake. She’ll do anything for a story.”
Her big break?In this respect, she’s a lot like Tucker Max, whose “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” has made the New York Times Best Seller list each year from 2006 to 2010.
The 35-year-old Max opens his collection of drunken and sexual encounters with reader feedback, including this gem: “I am completely baffled as to how you can congratulate yourself for being a womanizer and a raging drunk, or think anyone cares about an idiot like you.”
Cason rarely cops to being drunk in her column, and swears “I’ve never slept with anyone in Charlotte that wasn’t my boyfriend.” But after getting prodded by a friend, she read Max’s book in two days – and loved it.
So she e-mailed him for a critique of her writing.
As for the “I’m a hot girl” subject line, she says: “I (told him), ‘I am smart enough to know that’s the only way to get you to open this e-mail.’ … I sent a link to my blog, which had a bunch of pictures on it. He wrote me back and said, ‘Yes, you’re hot. I read your blog. I don’t think you’re gonna like what I have to say, but if you really are seeking my advice then I’ll give it to you.'”
They quickly became friends (Cason insists the relationship is 100-percent platonic). Max is now a writing coach and mentor to her, and hired her last year to manage his national tour for his second book, “(A——-) Finish First.”
“While she’s not the most talented person I’ve ever met,” Max says, “she has as much determination and perseverance as anyone, and that is the essential component to success in entertainment that most people don’t understand. Talent is easy to find. A willingness to work at and develop that talent and really dive into the hard (stuff) is not, and Brittney has that in spades.”
Cason plans to use the contacts she’s made through Max to seek a book deal. Her proposed title: “Your Face Does Not Belong to You: Confessions of an NFL Cheerleader.”
‘Something more mature’
Brittney Cason is sipping on a sweet tea mojito in the bar at Red Rocks at Birkdale Village.She points to the drink menu, where it reads “Brittney Cason’s Sweet Tea Mojito.” Then she gestures at her friends – former Bobcats cheerleader Jordan Fish, fashion model Shana Prevette, Paige Duke (Miss Sprint Cup) and Rachel Rupert (Miss Coors Light) – saying, “They have drinks named for them, too!”
She’s in her element around people, and around partying. She migrates to the table next to her for 15 minutes, sharing a high-five with a male friend and laughing at photos on his phone. She spots someone at another table and checks in.
NASCAR star driver Denny Hamlin stops by. So does Red Rocks owner Ron Herbert, who twice refers to her as a “rock star.”
Once Cason and her seven girlfriends are all seated in a wraparound booth, a server places a shot called a Scooby Snack in front of each of them.
“This is why we come here,” Cason says, laughing, “because shots magically appear at our table.”
And yet she has suggested that she’s growing weary of being a nightlife queen.
In November, Cason moved from the condo she was renting from former Carolina Panther Drew Carter to a townhouse in the Lake Norman area. Then last month, Cason “retired” as nightlife columnist for Creative Loafing; her new blog – “Love, Brittney” – is to launch in February and will focus on “love and lust.”
“I don’t want to just be a party girl. I don’t want to be some Charlotte version of Kim Kardashian,” Cason says. “I was kind of falling into that. You go and your drinks are free, you’re in VIP … it’s easy to succumb to the peer pressure. I’m ready to do something more substantial and more mature.”
Some have their doubts. “I don’t believe it,” says Noah Lazes, developer of the N.C. Music Factory, where Cason has hosted many events. “I’ll go on record saying it’s B.S.,” he continues, with a laugh. “She loves it.”
More for charities
Cason, who will turn 30 on Monday, says she isn’t necessarily ready to settle down. She’s open to marriage, maybe even kids someday, but she’s in no rush. She’s OK with juggling jobs, with an unsteady paycheck – with making $10,000 one month, barely $1,000 another month.
Her main goal is to get the book published, but she also wants to do more for charities, from local ones like Levine Children’s Hospital to global causes like Operation Smile. She is also a big supporter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society; her sister, Kim, is a sufferer.
If she is fortunate enough to find success as an author, she says, “I would use that voice and use any sort of credit that I have to again go back to the philanthropy.”
As for the significance of her birthday this week?
“A lot of women in the South race to get married before 30; they feel like 30 is some sort of expiration date, which I don’t understand because your eggs don’t expire at 30,” Cason says. “I’ve heard a lot of people be like, ‘Don’t you wanna get married? You’re gonna be an old maid.’ I don’t get that. To me, 30 is not a big deal – it’s an excuse to have a really big party.”
