Dave Portnoy receives praise for handling of antisemitic incident at Barstool bar
Ben Stiller, Sen. Dave McCormick and others praised Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy for how he dealt with the culprits who initiated the "f--- the Jews" sign at one of the company's bars.
Portnoy said in a video on Sunday that the two men who initiated the antisemitic signage at the Philadelphia establishment were going to be sent to Auschwitz in Poland to learn about the Holocaust. More than 1.1 million Jews were killed in Nazi concentration camps at the site.
"Good on @stoolpresidente for not only immediately working to address the horrific display of hate displayed in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, last night but also using it as an opportunity to educate on the tragic history of anti-Jewish hatred and violence," McCormick wrote.
"We can't look the other way at antisemitism. It needs to be identified, called out, and crushed whenever it rears its ugly head."
Stiller "agreed" with Portnoy on going scorched-earth on the culprits. However, Portnoy eventually cooled off and decided to educate the men on the horrors of the Holocaust instead.
"Everyone needs to call out antisemitism when they see it. Thank you @stoolpresidente for doing the real work to ensure change," X CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote.
"This is a great use of money," ex-NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya added.
"True Leadership," ex-MMA fighter Chael Sonnen wrote.
The "f--- the Jews" sign appeared at one of Barstool Sports' bars in Philadelphia on Saturday. A man who posted the video showed others laughing, singing and dancing as music blared in the background. The sports media personality initially said he was on a "mission to ruing these people."
However, it appeared cooler heads prevailed.
"These are young f---ing morons who did this. They're drunk. Do you really want to ruin somebody's life?" Portnoy said. "And let me be honest, I don't know what's going on in the world … I've been doing Barstool for 20 years, I've had more hate, more antisemitism in the last year, year and a half, than I've ever had doing it," Portnoy explained.
"And I'm not talking politics or what's going on in the Middle East – just hating groups of people. You hate my parents, you hate my grandparents – s--- like that, it's crazy. So, yeah, my initial reaction was I'm going to burn these people to the ground, their families, everything. And it's like, you know what? Maybe that's not the best course of action. Maybe I can use this as a teaching moment."
Portnoy said he will try to turn a "hideous incident" into a learning moment.
"I talked to both the culprits who I know are super involved in it, talked to the families. I'm sending these kids to Auschwitz. They've agreed to go. That's, of course the Holocaust concentration camps. Been in touch with (New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft) who run the anti-hate group.
"We're gonna send these kids to Auschwitz. They're gonna do a tour of the concentration camps (in Poland). Hopefully learn something. Maybe their lives aren't ruined, and they think twice and, more importantly, other people see it's not just words you're throwing around. To me, that's a fair outcome of this event."
Portnoy said two other waitresses involved in the incident were fired.
"I've been shaking. I've been so f---ing mad for the last two hours," he said in his initial video. "I'm going to make it my life's f---ing mission to ruin these people. I'm coming to your throat, I'm never ending."
Antisemitism has been on the rise since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorists attacks by Hamas on Jewish people in Israel.
The Anti-Defamation League said last month that the number of incidents in the U.S. reached a record high last year, with more than half of the 9,354 incidents being related to Israel.
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