
Dave Portnoy, the pugnacious and pot-stirring founder of Barstool Sports, defiantly hit back at “cancel cops” who resurfaced clips of him using racist language including the N-word in past videos.
The Barstool videos have been circulated by the Resist Programming account on Twitter in the past several days, gaining wider attention after The Atlantic contributing writer Jemele Hill tweeted them on Sunday, writing, “This is terrible, but then again, consider the source.”
In a 2016 segment about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem, Portnoy says, “So I’m going to say something that’s racist,” explaining he thought Kaepernick was “an ISIS guy… Throw a head wrap on this guy, he’s a terrorist.” Portnoy adds, “He looks like a Bin Laden. That’s not racist.” Barstool’s Kevn “KFC” Clancy comments that Kaepernick “is not really that Black… I don’t think he speaks for Black people.”
Related Stories

‘Until Dawn,’ ‘Silent Hill 2’ Remakes Show Relevancy of Retreading IP

Tim Walz and Anthony Ramos Talk High School Theater Programs and How 'Hamilton' Helped Drive Voter Registration (EXCLUSIVE)
Meanwhile, in a tweet by Portnoy from August 2016 (which has since been deleted), Portnoy included a picture of Kaepernick and Osama bin Laden side by side with the caption, “Anybody who disagrees with me saying Kaepernick looks like Bin Laden is a moron. #factsonly.”
Popular on Variety
Portnoy, in a response to Hill on Sunday night, complained, “What’s terrible is altering and cutting up a comedy sites video and giving no other context.”
In a different clip Portnoy posted from that same 2016 segment, he says about Kaepernick, “He just thinks Black are people are being treated unfairly, so he’s making a moral stand. Fine, I didn’t know he was Black… I don’t hate him — I hated him a lot more when I thought he was a terrorist.”
Portnoy also tweeted links to Barstool Sports content that was supportive of Kaepernick, including “Colin Kaepernick Refused to Stand During the Anthem and That’s Ok” and “If You Are Mad That Nike Pulled Their Betsy Ross Flag Sneakers Because Colin Kaepernick Complained About Them Then You Have a Big Dump in Your Pants” (in which Portnoy writes, “I could see how if I were black I wouldn’t love seeing a flag parading around from the colonial era when this country allowed slavery”).
In another resurfaced video, Portnoy chants along to Ja Rule’s “Livin’ It Up,” saying “To all my n—–s I’ve been livin’ it up… It’s going to be hit after hit.” And Portnoy in a 2018 segment recalls how Barstool sales guy Paul Gulczynski went “full blackface” on Halloween as Kevin Garnett with two Black friends. “If you do blackface with two Black guys, and they’re okay with it, you get a pass. You’re allowed to,” Barstool’s Clancy says in response. “You’ve gotta put them on a leash and have them next to you the whole time,” Dan “Big Cat” Katz laughs.
Portnoy responded Sunday night, tweeting, “Memo to the cancel cops. I knew this was coming before you did. And I’m ready. You don’t cancel me. I cancel you.”
“They’ve been trying to cancel me for two decades — I’m uncancellable,” Portnoy says in a video posted with the tweet. “I’m big. You’re little. I cancel you.” He also said, “Go cancel Marbles,” referring to YouTube comedian Jenna Marbles, who last week apologized for her past racist videos and said she would stop producing videos “for now.”
ESPN in 2017 canceled “Barstool Van Talk,” a late-night comedy/interview show on ESPN2, after just a single episode aired. That came after ESPN’s Sam Ponder called out sexist attacks against her by Portnoy and other Barstool staffers (for example, in a 2014 podcast Portnoy called Ponder “a f—ing slut” and suggested she “sex it up and be slutty” on-air).
Portnoy hasn’t specifically responded to the videos in which he used the N-word or joked about blackface. The Barstool founder, who calls himself “El Presidente,” has a history of unapologetically attacking and trolling critics.
Last year, Portnoy’s threats to fire Barstool Sports employees who engaged in union-organizing activity drew criticism, including from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who pointed out his behavior was illegal. (Portnoy responded to AOC by disingenuously inviting her to “debate me.”) Portnoy’s tweets also prompted a National Labor Relations Board investigation — which resulted in the Barstooler being forced to delete the tweets and other anti-union content.
This past January, casino operator Penn National Gaming paid $163 million for a 36% stake in Barstool Sports, with previous owner the Chernin Group left with the same percentage stake. Portnoy had sold majority control of Barstool to Peter Chernin’s Chernin Group in 2016.
Read More About:
Jump to CommentsMore from Variety
Elizabeth Olsen Says Marvel ‘Didn’t Know What to Do With’ Scarlet Witch ‘For a Second There’ and She’ll Return Only ‘If There’s a Way to Use Her Well’
New Live Music Data Suggests Cautious Optimism
Inside Sebastian Stan’s Completely Unrecognizable Transformation for ‘A Different Man’
Sebastian Stan Tells All: Becoming Donald Trump, Gaining 15 Pounds and Starring in 2024’s Most Controversial Movie
Why the Video Game Industry Can’t Shake Its Struggles
Sebastian Stan Says Bashing Marvel Movies Is ‘Really Convenient,’ but ‘I Get Protective’ Because Their ‘Intention Is Really F—ing Good’
Most Popular
Inside the 'Joker: Folie à Deux' Debacle: Todd Phillips ‘Wanted Nothing to Do’ With DC on the $200 Million Misfire
‘Kaos’ Canceled After One Season at Netflix
‘Menendez Brothers’ Netflix Doc Reveals Erik’s Drawings of His Abuse and Lyle Saying ‘I Would Much Rather Lose the Murder Trial Than Talk About Our…
Kathy Bates Won an Oscar and Her Mom Told Her: ‘You Didn't Discover the Cure for Cancer,’ So ‘I Don't Know What All the Excitement Is About…
Saoirse Ronan Says Losing Luna Lovegood Role in ‘Harry Potter’ Has ‘Stayed With Me Over the Years’: ‘I Was Too Young’ and ‘Knew I Wasn't Going to Get…
‘Joker 2’ Director Says Arthur Fleck Was Never Joker: ‘He's an Unwitting Icon’ and Joker Is ‘This Idea That Gotham People Put on Him…
Andrew Garfield Says Sex Scene With Florence Pugh in ‘We Live in Time’ Went a ‘Little Bit Further’ Than Intended: ‘We Never Heard Cut…
‘Joker 2’ Axed Scene of Lady Gaga’s Lee Kissing a Woman at the Courthouse Because ‘It Had Dialogue in It’ and ‘Got in the Way’ of a Music…
‘Skyfall’ Director Sam Mendes Says James Bond Studio Prefers Filmmakers ‘Who Are More Controllable’: ‘I Would Doubt’ I’d…
Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried to Star in ‘The Housemaid’ Adaptation From Director Paul Feig, Lionsgate
Must Read
- Film
COVER | Sebastian Stan Tells All: Becoming Donald Trump and Starring in 2024’s Most Controversial Movie
By Andrew Wallenstein 3 weeks
- TV
Menendez Family Slams Netflix’s ‘Monsters’ as ‘Grotesque’ and ‘Riddled With Mistruths’: ‘The Character Assassination of Erik and Lyke Is Repulsive…
- TV
‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Part 2 to Air on CBS After Paramount Network Debut
- TV
50 Cent Sets Diddy Abuse Allegations Docuseries at Netflix: ‘It’s a Complex Narrative Spanning Decades’ (EXCLUSIVE)
- Shopping
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Sets Digital and Blu-ray/DVD Release Dates
Sign Up for Variety Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Variety Confidential
ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXN8jp2goKGklrlwusSwqmiakafAtbvOpWSsqJ%2BnwbR5w5qtnmWgpL%2B1us6yZKuZk57AtXnLmqWgrZGcsm7CyJ2cqKtdZn90gJVyamlpY2Q%3D