Carl Radke responds to claims that his new “Soft Bar + Cafe” is a dig at ex-fiancée Lindsay Hubbard after Carl previously suggested that she be “softer.” The comment offended Lindsay, who called him out for it.
Before their breakup on Summer House, Carl shared his dream to open a non-alcoholic bar amid his journey with sobriety. Lindsay rejected the idea, hinting it wouldn’t be good for their future family.
“Drum roll … It’s officially happening!” wrote Carl on his Instagram Stories on Tuesday above a photo of a coaster with the name of his new business: ‘Soft Bar + Cafe.’ “Follow along @softbarcafe for more updates and announcements coming your way soon.”
“Consider this our soft launch,” wrote the bar’s new account. “Consider this our soft launch.”
But as fans began to wonder if the name was a dig toward Lindsay, Carl defended his choice in a statement to Page Six.
“While ‘Soft drinks’ is a term used in the US, it has a different connotation, typically representing soda,” said Carl, who explained that his travels to Europe inspired the name because he encountered multiple bars that referred to non-alcoholic drinks as “softs” or “soft cocktails.”
“I wanted to define a new — and much needed — category and space, having ‘soft drinks’ or ‘softs’ be seen as functional and high quality non [alcoholic] beverages for adults,” he added. “I was sharing this thought during a conversation with my co-founder as we discussed raising the bar in the non-[alcoholic] space, ultimately leading us to the name ‘Soft Bar.’”
After he first announced the bar, fans on X began to slam Carl over the name.
“Asking Lindsay to be softer to him and opening up a bar named soft. Diabolical honestly,” said one user.
“Carl naming his non alcoholic bar ‘Soft Bar’ is one of the most pathetic things the man has done,” wrote another.
“The bar is a good idea but he’s a d–kwad for calling it Soft,” added a fan on TikTok.
“Soft was her trigger word 😳,” said a fourth user.
Before the breakup, Lindsay disagreed with Carl’s idea for a non-alcoholic bar.
“Sorry, I’m gonna have to say no to that one,” she told him in the past scene. “Working in the hospitality industry my entire life, representing every single lounge, bar, club, hotel, restaurant … I don’t want that for our future family.”
In the reunion, Carl shared that he was going forward with the idea.
He expressed in his recent statement that the bar will have pop-up events starting this August until it permanently opens.
