Following another report detailing alleged sexual misconduct by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, the controversial personality says he intends to sue Business Insider and Julia Black, the author of both articles.
The second report, published Wednesday (Feb. 2), shares accounts from three women who accuse Portnoy of violent sexual encounters and filming the incidents without their consent. This follows up on a November story in which three other women claimed aggressive behavior by Portnoy that frightened and humiliated them.
Upon publication of the first Business Insider story, Portnoy disputed the report, saying that the encounters were consensual and shared text messages he believes proved that account.
Two weeks ago, upon learning that Business Insider intended to run another story by Black, Portnoy showed letters from his lawyers and direct messages that were supposedly sent to the outlet that disproved the story. He then said he would sue Black and Business Insider if the story was published.
Soon after Black’s second story was posted online, Portnoy said on Barstool Sports that he would officially sue the reporter and the outlet which published the articles. According to him, publishing the personal messages and filing the lawsuit are “the only way I can prove I’m telling the truth and they are lying.”
In an editor’s note, Business Insider’s Nicholas Carlson said both of the Portnoy stories were published because “we consider them to be in the public interest and newsworthy,” and went on to repeat the women’s allegations of violent and degrading behavior.
Portnoy went on to attack Business Insider founder and CEO Henry Blodget, bringing up violations of securities laws and civil charges that got him banned from the financial industry. The Barstool Sports founder also alleged that Business Insider intentionally published these stories before stakeholder Penn National Gaming earnings calls.
On Thursday, Penn reported revenues that fell below expectations and its stock price subsequently dropped. However, the company did say that it intended to follow through on the terms of its deal with Barstool and eventually acquire 100 percent of the company by 2023. (Penn took a 36 percent stake upon forming its partnership with Barstool.)
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
