Barstool Sports founder and small business owner Dave Portnoy was criticized by the Washington Post for his first-of-its-kind pizza festival, “One Bite,” but despite the strategic provocation and the severe weather, the celebration was a success.
PORTNOY BLASTS NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER’S “HIT PIECE”: “NO INTEREST” IN TELLING THE TRUTH
“It couldn’t have gone better. It’s our Woodstock moment with the rain. 5,000 people strong. Everyone had a great time. Spirits are probably actually higher because there was controversy. So, yeah, it went great,” Portnoy said during his Sunday appearance on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
The One Bite Pizza Festival was a celebration planned by Portnoy himself to round up the best pizzerias in America, at least on El Presidente’s scale.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Dave Portnoy released a video of a phone conversation with a Washington Post reporter on Thursday that went viral. (Getty Images)
Barstool Sports’ David Portnoy will host The Pool After Dark at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, May 11, 2019. ((Photo by Tom Briglia/Getty Images))
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – JANUARY 30: David Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, speaks during a radio show prior to Super Bowl LIV on January 30, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
The article, published Friday by Post reporters Tim Carman and Emily Heil, described Portnoy as someone who was “no stranger to controversy.” It noted his history of “sexist” and other insensitive comments, as well as allegations of sexual impropriety.
During a phone call with Portnoy, Heil admitted to sending “negative” emails to the sponsors of the One Bite Pizza Festival in an attempt to get the sponsors to “commit,” claiming this was a common “reporting tactic.” Journalists.
DAVE PORTNOY SHOOTS ON WAPO REPORTER’S ‘HIT PIECE’: ‘NO OUNCE OF JOURNALISM’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
“I think the fact that she was a food reporter and not necessarily in this world, she was just caught off guard. And then she revealed, although I don’t want to give away the secret, but the unfortunate truth that they are not looking for the truth. They are just trying to create negative headlines and get clicks,” Portnoy announced on Sunday.
Portnoy is known for staying ahead of the online controversies surrounding his past, opting for the same strategy that has made Barstool’s base stronger than ever: “Don’t abandon ship.”
Portnoy also threw shade at food writer J. Kenji López-Alt, who was allegedly “obsessed” with discouraging people from attending the festival.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
“I’ve talked to a lot of pizzerias and some people, like this guy Kenji López – who’s just obsessed with stopping people from partaking in the meal – he literally emailed the pizzerias the night before asking them privately to keep information and shame them. Saying, “It’s not too late to get out.” “Your dead father would be ashamed of you. It was pretty crazy,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“The thing about the hit piece is what they’re trying to do, whether it’s this one or the Washington Post, if you can just get one sponsor to give up on a pizzeria, which none of them have done… so I owe them a lot Thanks to. That will be a story in itself.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Neither The Washington Post nor the two reporters who wrote the story about Portnoy immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
For more information on culture, media, education, opinion and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media
FOX News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.