The owners of Pint, a historic Jersey City gay bar originally opened in 1911, have issued a public video apology after a trivia night featured a team name that mocked an alleged campus gang-rape at Cornell University. The venue, which has operated as an LGBTQ+ space since 2009, faced significant backlash following the incident.
During the event, a participating team named itself “Cornell 7 Inches”—a crude anatomical pun referencing the “Cornell Seven,” a moniker given to the seven students accused in a federal lawsuit of drugging and sexually assaulting an anonymous student at a Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. Patrons at the establishment expressed immediate outrage on social media over the tasteless pun, noting that the host went so far as to reward the group. One Redditor highlighted the crowd’s shock, sharing, “When we heard that name, our jaws literally dropped. I cannot believe someone would make light of something like this, and there were two teams of women there.” The patron adds, “Later on the host was announcing their score thus far and said (the) ‘name is a little uncomfortable … but voted best name!'”
Following the online backlash, Pint founder Wolf Sterling posted a joint apology video alongside co-owner Tommy DeMaio to address the situation directly. Sterling condemned the incident, stating that the team title was “truly offensive” and “violates both how we want to treat our community and the standards we have for our business.”
Management clarified in the video comments that the trivia host bestowed the designation unilaterally “without our knowledge” and confirmed that the employee was promptly fired the following morning. To make amends, Sterling pledged that all proceeds generated from the trivia night will be donated directly to sexual violence prevention programs, while reassuring patrons, “Let us know and we’ll address it” if similar issues ever arise.
