From Beatdown to Bling: Fashionista Who Once Had Altercation With Police Now a Reality TV Star

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It’s not often someone actually benefits after catching a beatdown from the New York Police Department, but that’s just what happened in Leah McSweeney’s case. In fact, she benefited all the way to the six-figure bracket all because she interfered with a police action.

“In hindsight, it was a pivotal moment in my life,” the 28-year-old owner of the Married to the MOB fashion line told The New York Post. McSweeney’s line boasts tees with slogans like “Hoes Before Bros,” and “Men are the New Women” as well as designer hoodies and even specialty Reebok sneakers.

But her road to fashionista status actually came through the school of hard knocks. To be more precise: One particularly hard knock, delivered by one of New York’s finest in front of Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom.

(Photos: A day in the life of a fashion week model)

“The cops were beating up a friend of mine at about 4 a.m.,” she told the Post. “I had a bottle in my hand, though I shouldn’t have, I threw it. That’s when the cop punched me.” The officer’s reaction then intensified, resulting in McSweeney’s face being slammed into a subway grating, knocking out two teeth in the process.

Now, NewsFeed does not exactly recommend throwing a bottle at police, but in McSweeney’s case, the altercation resulted in a $75,000 settlement — a lump sum that she turned into seed money to start a business in her apartment. A business that is now housed in the Empire State Building.

McSweeney went on to become a millionaire in 2007 once she sold a stake in her company. This week, the single mom went looking for love on Bravo’s reality TV show The Millionaire Matchmaker, agreeing to give host Patti Stanger a shot at hooking her up with the man of her dreams. Or not.

“It’s really hard for me to find guys,” she said. “If a guy is as successful as me, I’ll barely have time to see him, and he’ll barely have time to see me.”