WTF IS A SOBER COMPANION?

We’ve all seen that photo in US Weekly....

The hot young actor fresh out of rehab clutching a Starbucks in one hand, signing autographs with the other. But you may not give a second glance to the person by their side. That shadow trailing silently is their “sober companion”. And their job is to lure the star away to a late-night spa in Koreatown instead of going to the VIP room at 1Oak. Often employed by affluent, newly sober addicts, a sober companion is a “recovery coach” that provides one-on-one assistance to A-list junkies, boozy B-listers, and pill-popping politicians struggling to maintain their careers. Companions often times are hired at the insistence of the Justice System, Hollywood Studios or Professional Sports Franchises that can’t afford to have their big stars out on a bender. Most days are spent taking clients to AA meetings, the gym and running “interference” from bad influences like groupies that want to party. High-priced baby-sitters? Maybe. But tell that to the Companion that has to chain a padlock on a bedroom door to keep their client from going out to score heroin or has to rescue their client from a crackhouse or Las Vegas brothel. For these high-profile addicts with money to burn, a Companion is their “personal sobriety trainer” and they’re the only stopgap between going back to rehab and real life.