US

Dave Portnoy Goes Shock And Awe In War Against Business Insider

PORTNOY

Screenshot/Twitter

Bradley Stein Contributor
Font Size:

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy took to social media Thursday to call out Business Insider one week after the online publication published an article accusing Portnoy of having violent sexual encounters with young girls.

Portnoy claimed to debunk all the allegations, discussing Business Insider reporter Julia Black and his accusers “Allison” and “Madison.” You can watch the press conference here.

“They accused me of rape. They say they didn’t. There’s no actual allegations, but if you read it’s like ‘girls running away, Dave won’t stop.’ That’s rape,” said Portnoy in his online press conference.

Portnoy began his conference by producing a screenshot of an email sent by Business Insider’s Julia Black to Portnoy requesting a one-on-one interview for a profile piece she was working on. (RELATED: ‘It’s Character Assassination’: Dave Portnoy Goes After Business Insider’s ‘Disgusting’ Report On Sexual Misconduct Allegations) 

Portnoy also posted a screenshot that showed Black appearing to delete thousands of old tweets in the wake of her article.

Portnoy addressed allegations of two women who accused him of violent sexual behaviors including spitting, choking and filming a sexual encounter, without permission, from Business Insider’s article.

The first accuser Portnoy addressed was a woman who identified herself as “Allison.” Allison’s sister, Olivia, claimed to Business Insider that Portnoy initially ignored her and her friends’ romantic advances in Portnoy’s direct messages, so they pushed her sister Allison to seek him out instead.

“They said: ‘You should reach out to him, he likes younger girls.’ And he completely took the bait. He was much more interested in her than any of my 22-year-old friends,” Olivia told Business Insider.

“Literally in the article, they’re saying they tried to bait me … Not to be rude, but I’m just gonna be frank. The sister’s friends, if I saw, I didn’t find attractive and I found the other girl attractive. It had nothing to do with age,” said Portnoy.

Allison claimed that Portnoy pushed her to have aggressive sex, which allegedly included him spitting in her mouth before kicking her out of his Nantucket beach house, a claim Portnoy refers to as a “bald-faced lie.”

Portnoy then produced a series of DM’s (direct messages) he previously shared on social media showing Allison approaching him for sex and bragging about it to her friends after their encounter.

“They will not accuse me of anything because if they accuse me in a criminal sense, there’s gonna be a criminal investigation and they’re gonna be like ‘you guys are full of sh*t,” said Portnoy.

Portnoy also addressed Allison’s mother for filing a police report with the Nantucket Police Department (NPD) days after the encounter and accusing him of always asking girls to his pool house and allegedly asking if they are of legal age before having sex with them.

The physical report written by an officer from the NPD states, “we haven’t got any complaints from any 18-year-old girls about David Portnoy.” In her article, Black omitted the physical police report and claimed she contacted the NPD for comment, a claim their spokesperson denied to NBC News.

Portnoy also addressed the second girl, “Madison,” who accused him of engaging in aggressive sex and forcing her to sleep on the couch. Portnoy claims he and the girl “just didn’t get along.”

“It was just like a lot of political sh*t and it’s like she was extreme. I don’t like either extreme. It was oil and vinegar. That’s all I can say,” said Portnoy.

“This story of me chasing her around and she being like ‘stop I’m crying in pain’ did not happen” added Portnoy.

Portnoy then went on to release screenshots of the girl allegedly commenting on online posts about him from a burner Instagram account, including one where she stated the sex was not nonconsensual and another under a post regarding Portnoy’s net worth that appeared to be asking him for money.

The last woman Portnoy addressed was Ava Louise, the only woman who went on the record in Black’s article. Portnoy later shared a video of her appearing to admit to lying about being sexually assaulted to her college’s dean in order to get out of class.

“This is the only girl quoted in the article? Am I taking crazy pills?” asked Portnoy.

Portnoy concluded his press conference by stating that Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget is his “new arch enemy.”

“I got accused of rape. It’s arguably the most horrific thing you can be accused of with 0.0 evidence and they f*cking knew it,” said Portnoy as his press conference ended.

Portnoy continues to deny all allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.

Business Insider stands by Black’s reporting.

“The story was assigned in March as a general profile about Dave Portnoy and his transition from sports mogul to day trader,” a Business Insider spokesperson told The Washington Post. “Around mid-April, our reporter spoke with a woman about what she described as a frightening sexual encounter with Portnoy … We eventually heard from more women and the additional reporting led the article in a new and unexpected direction.”