food.wikisort.org - Researcher

David Portnoy (born March 22, 1977)[1] is an American internet celebrity, blogger, and founder of the sports and pop culture blog Barstool Sports.

David Portnoy
Portnoy at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2019
Born	(1977-03-22) March 22, 1977 (age 45)[1][2]
Alma mater	University of Michigan (BS)
Employer	Barstool Sports (2003–present)
Spouse	Renee Satherthwaite ​ ​ (m. 2009; separated 2017)​
Website	www.barstoolsports.com

Early life

Portnoy grew up in Swampscott, Massachusetts. He is Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah.[1][3][4]

He attended Swampscott High School and one of his high school classmates was ESPN's Todd McShay.[5] He began attending the University of Michigan in 1995, graduating with a degree in education.[6]

Career

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1999, Portnoy moved to Boston and began working at Yankee Group, an IT market research firm.[7]

Barstool Sports

After four years, Portnoy left the Yankee Group to begin Barstool Sports.[8] The early iteration of Barstool was a sports newspaper that Portnoy handed out on subway platforms and street corners in Boston.[8] The substance of the newspaper was originally solely written by Portnoy, but freelance writers, including Todd McShay, joined the paper.[8] In 2007, Barstool expanded to a blog.[8]

While with Barstool Sports, Portnoy gradually cultivated his persona as "El Presidente", a blunt and candid character.[9] His writing was well-received among young men and the publication subsequently became a mainstay of bro culture.[9] He became known for his unapologetic and brash attitude and has faced criticism over blog posts and disparaging comments towards women and others.[9] [10][11]

Peter Chernin's The Chernin Group purchased a majority stake of Barstool on January 7, 2016, and it was announced that the headquarters would move to New York City. In 2020, Penn National Gaming purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports from the founders for $163 million, including $135 million in cash and $28 million in Penn non-voting convertible preferred stock. Following the sale, The Chernin Group maintains a 36% stake in the company, while Portnoy continues to run the site and retains creative control over content.[12][13]

Pizza reviews

One Bite with Davey Pageviews is an internet show that Portnoy created, which consists of him reviewing pizza. Portnoy began his goal of reviewing every pizza place in Manhattan in 2017.[14] While many videos include only Portnoy, celebrities and athletes often also appear as guests.[15]

Labor investigation

The National Labor Relations Board investigated Portnoy in 2019 for posts on Twitter on charges that he illegally threatened to fire his workers if they unionized.[16] That December, Portnoy reached an informal settlement with the Board, which required him to delete his threatening tweets and remove any potential anti-union material created by Barstool Sports. The settlement also noted that the Twitter account originally encouraging employees to unionize was actually owned by Barstool in an attempt to out labor organizers.[17][18]

Politics

Portnoy identifies as "socially liberal" and "fiscally conservative."[19] Portnoy opposed COVID-19 lockdowns saying "When did this become...'flatten the curve' to 'we have to find a cure or everyone’s going to die?'"[20]

In a 2015 blog post, Portnoy said "I am voting for Donald Trump. I don’t care if he’s a joke. I don’t care if he’s racist. I don’t care if he’s sexist. I don’t care about any of it. I hope he stays in the race and I hope he wins. Why? Because I love the fact that he is making other politicians squirm. I love the fact he says shit nobody else will say, regardless of how ridiculous it is."[20] However, in 2022, he said it is "dangerous" to vote for Republicans because they will appoint Justices, who are too conservative to the Supreme Court.[19] He stated he would vote for President Joe Biden if he runs against Trump in 2024.[20]

Portnoy criticized the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision by the Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade.[19] Portnoy said: "To me, this is just pure insanity, pure insanity. We are going backwards in time. We are literally going backwards in time! It makes no sense how anybody thinks it’s their right to tell a woman what to do with her body."[19]

2013 Boston mayoral campaign

In 2013, Portnoy launched an unsuccessful campaign to become the mayor of Boston following the retirement of mayor Thomas Menino.[21] During the race, Portnoy identified as a libertarian.[22] After raising more than $17,000 in campaign contributions, he failed to submit enough nomination signatures to qualify for the ballot.[23]

Personal life

In 2020, Portnoy donated $500,000 to The Barstool Fund, a relief effort for small business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[24][25] The campaign raised over $39 million for 348 businesses as of May 2021.[26]

Arrests

Portnoy has twice been detained in NFL-related incidents: first on May 12, 2015, when he was arrested by New York City police after he and three Barstool employees handcuffed one another on the floor of NFL headquarters to protest Deflategate,[27] and again in 2019 when he was placed in a holding cell at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a portion of Super Bowl LIII. In the latter incident, he had created fake passes to attend a press event the day prior and was prohibited from attending the game.[28][29]

Sexual misconduct allegations

In November 2021, a Business Insider exposé alleged that Portnoy had engaged in violent and aggressive sexual encounters with three young women and that he had filmed the women without their consent.[30] Portnoy fractured the rib of one of these women during sex, which he admitted to. He admitted to causing the injuries, but denied that the sex was nonconsensual.[31] Portnoy called the article a "hit piece," claiming that Business Insider tried to find evidence of wrongdoing from him for approximately eight months.[32]

In early February 2022, more sexual assault and harassment claims by young women were published in a second Business Insider article.[33] After these new allegations were made, Portnoy announced a lawsuit against the publication. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in November 2022.[34][35]

References

External links

• David Portnoy on Twitter
• David Portnoy at IMDb

---