When Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy discovered the Washington Post’s Emily Heil had contacted his advertisers and labeled him as a person with a “history of misogynistic comments,” he took matters into his own hands and called her.
Portnoy posted the 11-minute confrontation in its entirety on Twitter. Heil initially lies, saying she didn’t characterize Portnoy as a misogynistic racist, before being confronted with her own words.
“We have this Pizza-fest happening on Saturday, and you’re reaching out to our advertisers,” Portnoy said. “You’re basically sending an e-mail that says, to the effect, ‘Dave’s a misogynic racist. Do you want to defend yourselves advertising at this event?’ Right?” he asked Heil.
I Caught Wind That The Washington Post Was Writing A Hit Piece About Me And My Pizzafest So I Did What I Do. I Went on the Offensive pic.twitter.com/5oK2zJqVAs
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 20, 2023
Heil, seemingly taken aback, didn’t even realize it was Portnoy who had called her.
“I’m sorry. Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m the guy you’re writing the article about, Dave Portnoy,” he replied.
Heil initially denied the accusation, claiming “I haven’t said anything like that.”
But apparently Portnoy brought receipts. He read a portion of an e-mail Heil sent to one of Portnoy’s advertisers, which he also posted to his website.
“We are planning to write about the festival and how some of the sponsors and participants have drawn criticism by seeming to associate themselves with Dave Portnoy, who has a history of misogynistic comments and other problematic behavior,” Portnoy read.
Upon hearing Portnoy reading the e-mail, Heil admitted to sending it. However, she claimed the email was the most “pointed of them,” because she “really did want them to respond.”
“Do you think that’s fair?” Portnoy asked. “I totally disagree with the assertions of what you said that I’m misogynic and all that stuff.”
The pair then argued over whether or not Heil claimed she didn’t say those things.
“You said you didn’t do it. Then I have the exact evidence of you doing it, so …” Portnoy told the Post’s national food news reporter.
“I didn’t say I didn’t do that,” Weil interjected.
“Well, no. Before I provided proof you said you didn’t really remember doing that, and then I read it to you, and you’re like ‘Oh yeah I did it that one time,’ so you did do it,” Portnoy responded.
Heil claimed she was planning on reaching out to Portnoy for comment the day after he confronted her, which he was skeptical about. (RELATED: Cancel Culture Victim Fired By Barstool Gets Hired By Dave Portnoy’s New Company)
“The Washington Post, which is a wildly left-leaning publication, you have things you’ve said. You hate Trump. You hate Elon. Not that I’m those people. To think you’re gonna give me a fair shake … I wasn’t born yesterday.”
The pair ultimately agreed to sit down for a telephone interview at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Portnoy followed up later on Wednesday with an update on the telephone interview.
The @washingtonpost just cancelled the 10am call. Shocker. They proposed 5pm instead. I said 10am or nothing. They refused. What could suddenly be more important than this? The article has to come out Friday. So they’d leave themselves a few hours before going to print? 🦝🦝 https://t.co/qPQ77bXLcG
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 20, 2023
“The @washingtonpost just cancelled the 10am call. Shocker. They proposed 5pm instead. I said 10am or nothing. They refused. What could suddenly be more important than this? The article has to come out Friday. So they’d leave themselves a few hours before going to print?” Portnoy wrote on Twitter.