In an article on Thursday, Business Insider reported that two women said that Barstool Sports co-founder Dave Portnoy filmed them without their consent. They also alleged that he engaged in rough sex, choked them and spitted on them. The outlet has not identified the women who have accused him. Portnoy said that the outlet had targeted him for a “hit piece.”
Both the women in the report said that were using pseudonyms as they were afraid of retaliation. They alleged that 44-year old Portnoy has turned sexual experiences into violent and humiliating acts. The article said that these incidents took place in his Nantucket home, last summer. Both the women also said that they were filmed without consent. They explained their horrific experiences in graphic detail.
On November 4, Dave Portnoy posted his side of the story on Twitter. He defended himself, denied the allegations and accused the Insider of writing a “hit piece” against him. He said that a lot of people hated him. He also said that “I guarantee this: they’ll never be able to prove anything” and that he couldn’t stop a “he said, she said.” According to him, all his experiences were consensual.
In a statement to NBC News, Insider defended their reporter and said that they stood by its reporting. The outlet said that the report began as an assignment in March as a profile on Portnoy but evolved after the reporter uncovered an allegation and it “led the article in a new and unexpected direction.”
Barstool Sports said in a statement that it was not in the “business” of managing their “employees lives” but it encouraged employees to share concerns about the work environment in the firm and that the recent news did not involve any workplace behavior.
According to a report in NBC, the Thursday statement also said that as a matter of policy they do not comment on the private lives of their employees but they took the matter seriously and were closely monitoring it.
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