Dave Portnoy blasts social media ‘cesspool’ for fueling hate after antisemitic encounter

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy lambasted the social media “cesspool” he says fuels hate after a shocking antisemitic encounter while filming a “One Bite” pizza review in Starkville, Mississippi.

“A kid came up [shouting], ‘F the Jews,’ threw a bunch of coins at me,” Portnoy shared on “My View with Lara Trump.”

“I’ve given [the incident] a lot of thought and I think there’s a variety of factors [concerning] how we’ve gotten here. People aren’t putting their foot down. It starts at colleges, people are getting away with basically threatening and intimidation and hate speech and… it’s not being contended the way it should.”

Portnoy, who is Jewish, said such behavior has been amplified on social media, which gives a platform to people who spread hateful views and lets them find community with others.

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Barstool founder and CEO Dave Portnoy is seen before the Florida Atlantic Owls and Loyola (Il) Ramblers game in the Barstool Invitational at Wintrust Arena on Nov. 8, 2023, in Chicago, Ill. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

“The internet is a cesspool. Social media has allowed what I would think faceless names who… live in a corner of their own lives, and they’re not normal people… to express themselves online,” he said.

“There’s a couple of hate people out there, a couple [of] sites, [and] they all kind of follow these people, and it’s a place for them to meet, and it grows and grows online.”

In Portnoy’s case, former Mississippi State University student Patrick McClintock, 20, was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor.

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Former Mississippi State student Patrick McClintock was charged with disturbing the peace after allegedly shouting antisemitic slurs at Barstool founder Dave Portnoy during a recent pizza review in Starkville, Miss., on Nov. 7. (X/@stoolpresidente)

McClintock was heard allegedly yelling, “Hey, f— the Jews, f— you, Dave.”

Portnoy said the public response to the incident gave him some hope. Instead of encouraging the perpetrator, bystanders confronted him and later apologized for the encounter.

“That was super uplifting,” he said.

“Everybody was screaming at that kid. Everybody apologized to me all weekend. I didn’t want apologies. I want outrage that this is happening.”

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Portnoy said the incident reflects a broader problem fueled by online anonymity and outrage, telling Lara Trump he receives similar hateful messages every day on X and Instagram.

“You know what all these people have in common? They cover their face,” he said. “They’re not real people, and it’s hard not to pay attention to it, but this new social media really plays a huge factor in that they can kind of validate themselves. In the past, where did these people go? You didn’t do out in public, they had nobody to talk to, but it’s almost like they’re forming these little groups online. It’s an echo chamber where they think it’s OK. It’s nuts.”