Dave Portnoy on a blue background.

s_maria/Shutterstock Zach Catanzaresi Photo/Wikipedia (Licensed) Remix by DAS DD

Barstool Sports is harassing a hockey writer who said he wouldn’t go on its podcast because the site is racist

Portnoy told another employee to 'attack.'

 

Zachary Petrizzo

Tech

Posted on Mar 17, 2021   Updated on Mar 18, 2021, 8:15 am CDT

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who believes that rape is funny and enjoys saying the N-word, is feuding with NBC hockey commentator Gord Miller after Miller pointed out Barstool’s “incidents of misogyny, racism, xenophobia” and its “condoning of non-consensual sex.”

Now Portnoy is having his 2.4 million followers harass Miller.

https://twitter.com/GMillerTSN/status/1372155960073068544

Following snubbing an invite from a Barstool Sports hockey podcast, Miller laid out why he will not partake in anything Barstool-related in a very straightforward manner on Twitter.

“My problem with Barstool is the history of unapologetic misogyny, racism, xenophobia, and the repeated condoning of non-consensual sex,” Miller shared on Twitter Tuesday night.

But shortly after saying so, Miller was promptly attacked by an army of Barstool Sports boosters led by Portnoy and a Barstool employee who uses the Twitter handle @Vindog56.

Portnoy concluded a thread about Miller by telling @vindog56 to “ATTACK!!!”

Portnoy’s tactic of sending his followers to “attack” those he disagrees with has not only been well-documented (such as the time he sent Barstool fans at a NASCAR reporter) but has gone without much discipline from Twitter.

Barstool fans were happy to pile on thanks to Portnoy’s tacit endorsement.

According to Twitter’s own rules, targeted harassment, which both Portnoy and Barstool employees regularly partake in, is against the social media platform’s rules. Twitter didn’t respond to a Daily Dot request for comment on the matter on Wednesday.

“You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behavior an attempt to harass, intimidate, or silence someone else’s voice,” one of Twitter’s rules reads on their website.

Reached for comment Wednesday about leading harassment campaigns on Twitter, Portnoy told the Daily Dot: “I believe you are a fuck face. Next question.”

This isn’t the first time Portnoy has directed harassment at reporters and foes; the Barstool Sports founder was previously temporarily suspended from Twitter back in 2018 for “abusive behavior.”

Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini didn’t return a Daily Dot request for comment about the harassment campaigns.

At this time, it appears that Barstool Sports employee @Vindog56 has been suspended by Twitter for 12 hours for his role.


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*First Published: Mar 17, 2021, 3:13 pm CDT