Barstool’s Dave Portnoy attacks 6abc during interview about antisemitic incident
Portnoy's combative interview comes after an antisemitic incident at Barstool's Philly bar made national news.
6abc’s Action News has been Philadelphia’s most-popular TV newscast for decades, but Dave Portnoy isn’t a fan.
The Barstool Sports CEO, known to fans as El Presidente, agreed to a remote interview with 6abc after an antisemitic incident at the company’s sports bar in Philadelphia over the weekend that made national headlines. In posts on social media, Portnoy called it “a hideous incident” and pledged to do whatever he could to make the situation right.
But in a video shared on social media, Portnoy claimed the station “bait-and-switched” from one reporter to another and pressed him on a study by professors at the University of Virginia involving Barstool’s history of racy and controversial content.
The station did not immediately respond to request for comment.
» UPDATE: 6abc defends a reporter after Barstool’s Dave Portnoy attacked the station
“Basically, I’m responsible for this happening at my own bar,” Portnoy said in the video. “Oh, you’re saying some … liberal college professor said they don’t like Barstool?"
Portnoy also recorded part of his interview with 6abc, where he pressed the reporter about claims made in the unidentified study. Then he questioned the reporter about a separate issue involving protests of the war in Gaza that have taken place on college campuses in Philadelphia and elsewhere across the country.
“Who’s creating more hate in the world right now, Barstool Sports and white men, or college campuses?” Portnoy asked. The reporter declined to answer, saying, “You’re not running this interview.”
“All right, then the interview is over,” Portnoy responded before slamming his laptop shut.
Watch (explicit content warning):
It’s unclear which 6abc reporter interviewed Portnoy.
It’s also not clear if and when the station’s interview with Portnoy will air. It was not part of the Monday noon broadcast of Action News, which aired footage Portnoy had previously published on social media.
This isn’t the first time Portnoy has gotten combative with a reporter. In 2023, he confronted Washington Post food reporter Emily Heil for describing him as having a “history of misogynistic comments” ahead of a story published about a pizza festival Barstool hosted in Brooklyn.
As with 6abc, Portnoy shared a video of that back and forth on social media.