A controversial Barstool Sports podcast host is moving on from the pirate ship. Chris Castellani, host of Chris and Company, announced today via his X account that he spoke with Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy, and the pair agreed to go their separate ways.
“This is best for both sides,” Castellani said. “I’m very excited for what’s next, but I just want to say thank you to Dave. I’m very grateful for this opportunity that he gave me.”
According to Castellani, Chris and Company will continue outside of the Barstool umbrella. No word yet on whether or not he’ll keep his feed or have to begin anew on his own. Barstool has already removed Castellani’s profile from the website though his blogs remain on the site.
Recently, Castellani drew the ire of fellow Barstool blogger Francis Ellis, who wrote a scathing blog attacking the now-former Barstool podcast host who responded in kind. While interoffice drama usually propels Barstool Sports, it may seem like this instance was too much. However, some Reddit posts reveal additional background information that may have led to this moment.
In July, Castellani revealed he would not join many of his colleagues in the new Barstool office in Chicago in a now-deleted X broadcast.
“Sounds like this is him getting fired without getting fired– Big Cat doing him a solid saying don’t move to Chicago cause your contract isn’t being renewed,” one user said.
A more damning piece of evidence came out two days ago, concerning alleged letters shared between Castellani and fellow Barstool employee “Megan Makin’ Money.” (NSFW language):
Allegedly, Castellani sent Megan letters from rehab that were called “love letters” by the anonymous poster, wherein they post various situations between Megan and Castellani throughout his time there. No evidence of letters was shown or discussed further. In a comment in the same Reddit thread, a user who allegedly directly messaged Castellani received this message:
“Megan Makin Money and I were very good friends. She was there for me when I went to rehab and was so supportive. No one has gotten it completely correct. When I was detoxing in rehab, I wrote her a letter basically saying I loved her. I don’t really remember a lot of it. My brain wasn’t working. Me and her talked about it. She told me I didn’t make her uncomfortable and went out of her way to send me a Merry Christmas message shortly after I got out of rehab. Somehow (I’m not going to speculate who it was, but I don’t think it was Megan), word of this letter got out, and from what I heard, Jeff D. Lowe went back to the NYC offices and told everyone about it. Word got to Erika, and she and Dave almost fired me until Megan stepped in and told them not to. I have not been allowed to talk to Megan since, and I’m banned from the offices.”
Castellani, perhaps seeing the eventual writing on the wall, concluded his aforementioned response at Ellis with a self-aware passage:
“Whether my future is here or not, I take pride in what I do and always will,” Castellani wrote. “I love this company. I always have, and it’s where my heart will always be, whether you want it here or not.”
