In less than two decades, Dave Portnoy has spearheaded the transformation of what was once a sports media startup company to a powerhouse in the genre.
Barstool Sports rings bells in sporting news, and the company’s founder, Dave Portnoy, has an estimated net worth of approximately $100 million. Despite the global recognition and financial ascension of his company, Portnoy has made some celebrity enemies along the way to the top. His ever-growing list of quarrels has included the likes of Jason Whitlock, Jackson Mahomes, Michael Rapport, and more. Now, it looks like the 46-year-old blogger wants beef with 20-year-old Angel Reese of the LSU Tigers. Upon leading the LSU Tigers to a 102-85, Angel Reese taunted Caitlin Clark with the famous “John Cena” hand gesture. A teasing/celebratory trend that Caitlin began during March, en route to scoring more points in a single NCAA women’s basketball tournament than anyone before her. The spirited post-game interaction between the two stars sent social media into a frenzy as several celebrities chimed in to condemn and praise the two women. When Dave Portnoy caught wind of Angel’s gesture toward Caitlin, his response on Twitter was straight to the point.
“Classless piece of sh*t,” wrote Portnoy in response to a video that ESPN tweeted of Angel giving Caitlyn the “John Cena” hand. Angel has yet to respond to the CEO of Barstool Sports, but his tweet did garner the attention of another famous big from LSU, Shaquille O’Neal.Â
“A white man calling a black woman a POS for doing the same thing a white woman did is absolutely rooted in race,” a commentator wrote. “If you don’t see that then that’s on you.”
Portnoy responded with the following explanation, “I’d agree with you that if Clark did exactly what Reese did and I went after Reese and not Clark then it would be fair to suggest it’s rooted in race. However they didn’t do remotely the same thing and if you can’t see that then race is clouding your perspective not mine.”