Founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy made the company that covers sports and pop culture. He is now at odds with Emily Heil, a writer for the Washington Post. Heil had been talking to pizzerias and sponsors of Portnoy’s “One Bite Pizza Festival” to find out if they were hesitant to work with Portnoy because he is said to have a history of making sexist comments and acting in a bad way. Heil tried to stop Portnoy’s pizza festival, which he didn’t like, so he called her and recorded the chat.
The call details have been made public and Heil admits to intentionally misleading advertisers into speaking negatively about the pizza festival. She claims it is a “press tactic to get a response”. The phone call was recorded as a video and has been viewed over 40 million times. Portnoy says that these obvious actions call into question the way modern journalists work in the name of free speech and activity. Portnoy is upset that the journalist was caught doing something wrong, but the story still came out with accusations and statements that haven’t been proven.
Portnoy said that none of the sponsors or pizzerias pulled out of the event in any way. In response to what the reporter did, many people backed Portnoy because of how hard he works for small businesses and how much good press the event got. The pizzerias said that his reviews can help them make more money and also raise money for the Barstool Fund, a non-profit that gave tens of millions of dollars to restaurants and small businesses that needed it during the pandemic.
A lot of bad things are said about Dave Portnoy on the Internet, but he also has fans and followers. Portnoy has dealt with claims of sexual assault, racist comments, bad behavior, and acting in a way that isn’t responsible. Still, he’s still well-liked, and a lot of people follow him online.
