I genuinely can't believe so many people are biting on this. It's absurd. He's not serious in any way
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Owner of Barstool Sports Threatens to Fire Employees on Twitter for Wanting to Unionize
- Thread starter Angie
- Start date
I genuinely can't believe so many people are biting on this. It's absurd. He's not serious in any way
fantano just gave The Big Day a 0/10 so he's got a couple weeks of being ok. this seems in line with that
Portnoy being a piece of shit isn't new. He's essentially Drew Magary back during the "Kissing Suzy Kolber" days who never grew up and decided to double down on all his frat-boy faux machismo alongside guys like KFC. Their primary source of humor derives from punching down on people and power tripping, but when they're legitimately confronted with actual issues with their brand they end up receding into a blubbering ball of excuses and deflection.
As much as he tries to extend and legitimize his brand through the pizza reviews, attempts to get a show on ESPN, or have his writers go on sports talk radio shows, he or one of his lackies end up screwing things up because they can't help themselves from not attacking rape victims, victims of abuse, making fun of blind people, or insinuating that Latino athletes are underperforming because they're in bed with a cartel, just to name a few. Not to mention their history of stealing content from other people.
Again, this guy, right here, is the face of Barstool Sports.
I have no respect for anyone who wants to do business with this trash.
As much as he tries to extend and legitimize his brand through the pizza reviews, attempts to get a show on ESPN, or have his writers go on sports talk radio shows, he or one of his lackies end up screwing things up because they can't help themselves from not attacking rape victims, victims of abuse, making fun of blind people, or insinuating that Latino athletes are underperforming because they're in bed with a cartel, just to name a few. Not to mention their history of stealing content from other people.
Again, this guy, right here, is the face of Barstool Sports.
I have no respect for anyone who wants to do business with this trash.
Yeah looking at his other tweets its looking like he knows this and is just fucking around with people lol. That's kind of the barstool culture though, and its why they have such wild success. They took the "just some bros bantering about sports and other topics" and made it into a fairly big media company
Yeah there is not really a desire to unionize there.
They pay well (all writers are FTE, paid well and have good healthcare) and they offer unlimited vacations. They also don't fire people. I think one person has been fired in years.
Most of the other media companies treat their writers like contractors who are paid per article and effectively freelance.
As a non-news company (I believe they are positioned as Satire) they have protections from commentary on this.
He is.
But people can still criticize him and barstool in general which is likely what the next 20 pages of this thread will look like.
Sorry you think I'm shit for enjoying one of the world's most popular sports podcasts.
Christ this forum is a parody sometimes.
I can happily make a distinction between PMT, which I adore, and the rest of Barstool's content that I don't have any interest in
Agreed, I went and checked out what barstool sports is all about and I can see the niche they're going for and would guess it's fairly popular as well. The sad part here is the CEO being a dick is probably going to get them more patronage because people like polarizing assholes like this. I'm willing to bet even more so with their type of fan base.
I also doubt there will be any real blow back for the way this guy is acting. People just don't care as demonstrated by that YouTuber who abused her dog. She lost maybe 1% of her subs and got free name recognition, advertising.
What about Failing Upwards??? Support the homies!
Still remember the EP with Portnoy on it where they talk about when his ex cheated on him with her Soulcycle instructor.
Don't think I'm the target demo for that pod. I literally just buy the same pair of trainers over and over again because they fit well and go with most clothes
Ehh there is plenty of content to consume on there without subjecting your self to the other stuff.
I basically just listen to the spitting Chiclets podcast and nothing else.
So fun fact, Portnoy isn't the CEO. He's a founder and I don't know what his official title and responsibilities within the company now but the actual CEO is decently new.
It was my understanding she was brought in not only because a group of sports fans is probably not the best crew for running a fast growing media company, but also because she can help clean up their image to give them wider appeal.
I think Barstool skirts the line in the same way plenty of comedians do. Sometimes they miss their mark for sure. But their actual content is usually not *that* bad, some exceptions withstanding.
The real cesspool is their fans. The comment sections on their site and on their facebook/insta posts are BRUTAL. Especially with anything with women/politics. I mean any time barstool posts about a remotley political topic with a slightly left leaning bias they get piled on. I wish they would be more courageous and condemn that fan behavior but they got a viewership to upkeep I guess.
One day a huge sexual harassment lawsuit is going to bring down Barstool and on that day I will celebrate.
Man, fuck barstool.
I think unionizing at a site like Bartstool is pretty hard ... they have an incredibly low bar of editorial quality, will basically hire anybody who can generate clicks about pseudo-sports topics, and there is a race to the bottom on paying writers at sites like these because there's just so many sites and willing participants. But, fuck Dave Portnoy.
It's interesting comparing the unionization response between writers at sites like Barstool, and writers/management at sites like The Ringer. While assholes like Portnoy are losing their brains fighting against unionization at their shitty sites, Bill Simmons is meeting with organizers, not making public statements, and -- by all accounts -- looking to come to an agreement. It's another reason why the Ringer is, like, the best sports-centric site/network.
I assume that person thinks that there's a culture of abuse at Barstool and that it'll eventually come out in sexual misconduct allegations. Being an outlet for ironic manly men to do ironic manly man things and objectify women is basically the raison d'etre of the site.
I think unionizing at a site like Bartstool is pretty hard ... they have an incredibly low bar of editorial quality, will basically hire anybody who can generate clicks about pseudo-sports topics, and there is a race to the bottom on paying writers at sites like these because there's just so many sites and willing participants. But, fuck Dave Portnoy.
It's interesting comparing the unionization response between writers at sites like Barstool, and writers/management at sites like The Ringer. While assholes like Portnoy are losing their brains fighting against unionization at their shitty sites, Bill Simmons is meeting with organizers, not making public statements, and -- by all accounts -- looking to come to an agreement. It's another reason why the Ringer is, like, the best sports-centric site/network.
I assume that person thinks that there's a culture of abuse at Barstool and that it'll eventually come out in sexual misconduct allegations. Being an outlet for ironic manly men to do ironic manly man things and objectify women is basically the raison d'etre of the site.
Reminder that Barstool is trash
I'm not hoping for anything, it's well known that Barstool the company has been a cesspool of toxic masculinity that has had controversy's with harassing women. One of these days something will bring it down.
I would be very surprised if that was true. Their most popular podcast is called Call Her Daddy ranked at 16th overall.
Its two girls talking about sex and sleeping around with guys in NYC.
They've fired two writers I know of and breached their contract with Michael Rappaport.
The most recent writer was fired for slut-shaming a missing college student who later turned up dead. The other was fired for an article which essentially was attempting to fat-shame Rihanna. In both instances Portnoy's main thrust for firing them was that they were "unfunny."
This of course doesn't address the fact that the culture of Barstool ferments this kind of shit and it's inevitable that something like this will happen again. The difference is that when lower-ranking writers pull this shit, they get fired so Portnoy can act like he's doing the right thing. When Portnoy or KFC, a guy who cheated on his wife when she was pregnant with their second child, pull that shit, they make a lame apology and deflect.
This might be a surprise to you, but trolling is generally not exactly a great way to run a company and build a healthy work environment.
Fuck it, if I was an employee I would totally hit up that lawyer and inquire about unionization. They have little to lose now that his intentions are clear. I'm sure his lawyers will inform him that the 1+ million they'll spend defending his statements from intent is a lot more then paying off the employee with severance and damages.
Then again, it wouldn't be my first time down this path so I'm biased.
Then again, it wouldn't be my first time down this path so I'm biased.
Not disagree with the above. Those were the only two fired. A lot of other "weight" around there could probably be cut but they haven't done it.
They posted their union request.
also lol at "breaching michael rapaport's contract". the guy was fired for going after the site's fans on twitter.
This might be a surprise to you, but not every company is about suits, ties, and decorum. Trolling and satire is the culture at the company because that is THE BRAND they are selling. And you can have that while still having a healthy work environment. Barstools fans are likely loving what is going on right now.
I wouldn't expect, say the Onion, to have the same culture as the New York Times.
He's also a sexist fuckstick who runs a sexist outlet for sexist fucksticks. It's not just 'trolling.' He's actually a sociopath.
Hm...I clicked a link to a Barstool article last week and had never been there before. I don't remember the article but my only takeaways were 1) that was a waste of time and
2) why is "Grading the Latest Sex Scandal Teacher" an ongoing thing that apparently exists here?
Quality content. Quality leadership.
2) why is "Grading the Latest Sex Scandal Teacher" an ongoing thing that apparently exists here?
Quality content. Quality leadership.
When did "he is trolling" become a way to white wash horrible behavior?
A person can be a troll AND actually be a horrible person doing bad things.
Man I knew barstool was crap but I didn't realize just how crap until reading this thread. Less like deadspin, more like braindeadspin
Even if he is trolling, what kind of dipshit manchild runs a company and "trolls" his employees on Twitter? Did this man not develop emotional maturity past a 3rd grade level?
Mediocre white dude being a mediocre white dude.
Barstool is also literally the worst sports media outlet out. And the sports world has some problematic members to say the least.
Mediocre white dude being a mediocre white dude.
Barstool is also literally the worst sports media outlet out. And the sports world has some problematic members to say the least.
Why would those in charge of a company condemn people that they agree with?
It's not an issue of courage to confront assholes despite a fear of lost wages.
It's a fundamental alignment with the assholes.
Barstool's fan base is not a happy accident or the result of cynically targeted content from people who just do it for a buck but secretly despise the fan base.
The fan base is Barstool is the fan base. It's the same group of underemployed, angry 18-34 male dipshits.
Portnoy is a well-piece of shit who doesn't hesitate to approve whatever his edgelord writers pinch out onto a keyboard. I mean, the name "Dave Portnoy" sounds like the name of an Ohio mechanic/Klan member, so he figures he has to live up to it somehow.
Imagine living this life. Boy needs Jesus.
I'm kinda with you on this. Big Cat is openly considering it on Twitter and he would take a bullet for Portnoy if he had to, so I'm pretty sure they're just being knobs today.
Fun fact: Dave Portnoy is 43 years old.
Edit: yeah they're openly trying to get someone to bite on this. I'm sure Deadspin will answer the call.
Now that he made that post though, this is impossible. Any false reason management would give would easily be countered with literal proof of a threat over unionization.
Yeah, Barstool and their fans are utter trash. Doesn't matter if he's trolling or not with this.
