Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy sues insider, post confirms stories
Posted on: February 8, 2022, 07:29h.
Last update on: February 8, 2022, 11:13 a.m.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has filed a lawsuit against Initiated and several of its employees in federal court in Boston. He claims he was defamed and his privacy rights violated in a series of exposures about his sexual relationships with several anonymous young women.
The articles were categorized as “hit pieces”, and the Initiated the staff had “malicious intent” in the “smear campaign”, according to the lawsuit. The stories were also characterized as “click-baiting journalism”, which the lawsuit explained as suggesting “actual criminal acts on the part of Mr. Portnoy without further explanation”.
In the lawsuit, Portnoy, 44, disputes several specific allegations published against him, including the alleged violent rape and sexual assault of three women. The lawsuit calls these claims “outright fabrication.” Portnoy previously said the sex was consensual.
Among the defendants named in the lawsuit are Initiated Managing Director Henry Blodget, Journalists Julia Black and Melkorka Licea and Editor Nicholas Carlson. Last week, Portnoy threatened to sue Initiated, therefore the trial was expected.
Portnoy fires back
The lawsuit states that the defendants “wrongfully and knowingly relied on biased sources who demanded anonymity, while in possession of documentary evidence that each source’s story was unbelievable and unreliable.”
Mr. Portnoy will not sit idly by as Insider and its Twitter army of executives, editors and journalists attempt to generate clicks, viewership and subscription revenue for themselves by broadcasting recklessly. malicious and defamatory lies that Mr. Portnoy engaged in flagrant criminal conduct by sexually assaulting and/or recording three women without their knowledge or consent,” the lawsuit reads.
Initiated and his staff further had a “plan to sensationalize a story in order to direct readers’ traffic to an Internet location where they could then be solicited to subscribe to [the] … Tabloid-like publication,” the suit adds.
Release dates coincide with Penn announcements
It was further claimed that the articles were published on a date that coincided with Penn National Gaming’s quarterly earnings announcements, the lawsuit said. Penn National Gaming owns a 36% stake in Barstool Sports.
By publishing the false and defamatory stories aimed at destroying Mr. Portnoy’s reputation, Insider sought to bring about the downfall of one of the most well-known [-] well-known entrepreneurs and media personalities,” says the suit.
In 2003 Portnoy began publishing a small sports journal named Barstool Sports in Milton, Mass. Since then, the publication has become “one of the best-known sports media and pop culture companies in the world,” according to the lawsuit.
Initiated Promise a vigorous defense
When reached for comment in response to the lawsuit, Initiated said spokesman Mario Ruiz Casino.org, “We stand behind our reporting and will vigorously defend the case.”
Initiated has some 700 employees. Its publications and programs reach more than 300 million viewers and readers every month.
One of the lead attorneys representing Portnoy, Howard Cooper of Boston-based Todd & Weld, declined to comment further on the case. Cooper specializes in high-profile litigation and has handled other defamation cases.
