Dave Portnoy has hit back at Business Insider after they published an article accusing the Barstool Sports founder of preying on young wom...
Dave Portnoy has hit back at Business Insider after they published an article accusing the Barstool Sports founder of preying on young women and having rough sex with them, calling their journalism 'sloppy' and 'total bulls***' in an hour-long rant online.
Portnoy, 44, was accused by two woman - Allison, 19, and 20-year-old Madison, both of whom were given aliases - of aggressive and unpleasant sexual behavior, filming them without permission and leaving them feeling humiliated and traumatized in the explosive November 4 article.
Portnoy, standing behind a podium made from a water cooler with a microphone resting in a coffee cup, methodically picked apart the article with the help of graphics - which often didn't appear on the screen - during the livestream.
After the technical difficulties were sorted out, he showed a message from Allison in which she texted him: 'Really want to see you... would do anything.'
She added: 'Can we bang?'
Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports media company, on Thursday held an hour-long live stream in which he discussed allegations made to Business Insider of rough sex with young girls
Portnoy, 44, has earned himself a $120 million fortune from the company he founded 18 years ago
Portnoy was briefly suspended from Twitter for publishing Carlson's email address online
Portnoy saved much of his anger for the writer of the article, Julia Black, a freelancer who spent eight and a half months researching the outspoken blogger and those around him. She has since been promoted to a staff position after the article was published.
In the piece, a third woman, Instagram influencer Ava Louise, told Black she exchanged messages with Portnoy in 2017 after he reached out to her when she was 19 and he was 40. She never met him in person, but felt his approach was predatory.
Portnoy, whose company was valued at $450 million in January 2020, on Thursday accused Black of setting out to 'try and make him look like a pedo'.
He has also attacked editor in chief Nicholas Carlson and company CEO Henry Blodget - publishing emails between him and Carlson which got Portnoy suspended by Twitter, as the screenshots included Carlson's email address.
Portnoy said that, thanks to his July 2020 interview with Donald Trump, and his provocative, unfiltered style, he had become a target for those who disliked Trump.
Black, he claimed, had posted many anti-Trump tweets, but has deleted them.
Portnoy's social media team were supposed to have prepared the proof for his video, but failed to do so, to his evident anger during the livestream.
Portnoy said that one of his accusers, Madison, was extremely anti-Trump on social media, and suggested that is why she wanted to harm him.
'People say I am a crazy Trump guy. I am not,' he said in the video, posted online.
'This girl is extreme, extreme, extreme left.'
Instagram influencer Ava Louiise also told Business Insider that she received a message from Portnoy reading: 'I never reach out. I noted you 2 weeks ago and was interested'
Julia Black, the reporter for Insider, has been strongly criticized by Portnoy for her eight months of reporting on him
Portnoy said he believed he was being singled out for his views after Patrick Coffee approached Barstool Sports advertisers, asking if they still supported him
Portnoy said that he was further convinced that the attack on him was an attempt to damage his company when a media and advertising correspondent for Business Insider, Patrick Coffee, began emailing companies who advertised on Barstool Sports, asking them whether they intended to continue their support in light of BI's report.
'Total bulls***, cancel culture 101,' said Portnoy.
'Write the hit piece, then try to scare - even though there are no facts to any of it.'
The Massachusetts-born media mogul then showed a series of screenshots of messages from both Allison and Madison, which he claimed vindicated his insistence that their encounters were consensual.
Portnoy called Business Insider's reporting 'just sloppy'.
He pointed out how, in the article, Allison's sister Olivia, 22, says that she wanted to secure a sought-after invite to Portnoy's $2 million Nantucket mansion.
Olivia had been messaging him to no avail, and she asked Allison, three years younger, to try.
'Literally, in the article, they say they are trying to bait me,' Portnoy said.
'This isn't journalism - it is editorial, saying we don't like Dave.'
He said that Allison came to his house, and the pair ended up having sex.
She later messaged him, saying: 'Really want to see you... would do anything.'
She added: 'Can we bang?'
After they had sex, Allison messaged Portnoy again saying she wanted to see him
Portnoy on Thursday published a conversation with Allison, in which she said she wanted to 'bang'
Portnoy noted that in his reply, he said: 'If you don't wanna do anything we won't.'
He asked his viewers: 'Have I done anything here that is me being misleading, preying, being weird? If so, indict like 75 percent of all men.'
Business Insider 'had access to her phone. Did they look at the phone and willfully ignore this?'
After he had left Nantucket, Allison messaged him a few days later urging him to return to the island.
'I'm in shock you're still DMing me,' she said. 'Like whats up Dave Portnoy.'
A day later, she message him again, sending him her phone number.
He shared a text exchange he said he had with 'Allison' after they slept together which proves they were on good terms
Portnoy published a screenshot of a police report filed by Allison's mother
Allison's mother referred Portnoy to the police, saying that she was concerned that young girls were going to the house.
In the police report, the officer notes that 'we haven't got any complaints from 18-year-old girls about David Portnoy.'
He says he will refer the issue to his supervisor, Sergeant Mack.
He rang Allison's mother back to say that the complaint had been noted, and referred her to the Detectives' Unit.
Turning to the second accuser, Madison, Portnoy showed another series of comments left below a TikTok video she made.
She replied to a comment, saying: 'The article never said the sex was not consensual.'
Madison replied to a comment below her TikTok: 'The article never said the sex wasn't consensual'
Madison also said: 'Nobody said he was a rapist'
Portnoy said that he and Madison, after they had sex, 'realized we disagreed on basically everything - like oil and vinegar.'
But, he insisted, their intimate relations were entirely consensual.
'If there was a hidden camera in that room, there would be absolutely nothing there,' he said.
Business Insider said that they stood by their reporting.
Black has been made a staff reporter at the outlet since the the story was published.
'The story was assigned in March as a general profile about Dave Portnoy and his transition from sports mogul to day trader,' a company spokesperson told The Washington Post.
'Around mid-April, our reporter spoke with a woman about what she described as a frightening sexual encounter with Portnoy.
'We eventually heard from more women and the additional reporting led the article in a new and unexpected direction.'
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