Topline
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy sued Insider for defamation Monday, after the digital news outlet published a pair of stories in which multiple women accuse Portnoy—a brash and controversial figure—of “violent and humiliating” sexual experiences.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy visits SiriusXM’s studio in New York on November 14, 2017.
Key Facts
Portnoy’s lawsuit was filed in federal court in Boston.
The suit takes aim at articles published by Insider in November and February that quote several women who said Portnoy filmed them during sex without permission and acted violently.
Insider reported that the women said their encounters with Portnoy began consensually, but several said the experience “turned violent and frightening beyond what they would have agreed to had they been asked,” according to Insider.
Portnoy accused Insider of “knowingly disregarding the truth”: His lawsuit claims Insider’s stories insinuated Portnoy had nonconsensual sex, which he says is false, and cited the fact that some of the accusers stayed in touch with Portnoy afterwards.
Before suing Insider, Portnoy’s attorney insisted the encounters were consensual and denied surreptitiously filming anybody, in a letter tweeted out by Portnoy.
An Insider spokesperson told Forbes in a statement the publication stands by its reporting and “will defend the case vigorously,” while Portnoy’s attorney Andrew Brettler did not offer further comment to Forbes, and Barstool Sports did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Surprising Fact
Portnoy’s lawsuit noted both of Insider’s stories were released within one day of Penn National Gaming—a casino operator that owns 36% of Barstool Sports—publishing its quarterly earnings reports, a trend it suggested wasn’t coincidental. The Insider spokesperson told Forbes the news outlet “did not time our story around their earnings.”
Key Background
A Massachusetts native, Portnoy founded Barstool Sports in the early 2000s. The blogging company quickly gained a reputation for its irreverent and sometimes-crude coverage of sports and pop culture, and for hosting raucous parties aimed at college students. Investor Peter Chernin’s firm bought a majority stake in the company six years ago, and Penn National Gaming also acquired a stake in 2020, valuing Barstool at $450 million. But both Portnoy and Barstool have courted controversy. He joked in 2012 that sexual assault against unconscious women is a “gray area” (he later told the Boston Globe he didn’t mean to mock victims of rape), ESPN canceled a partnership with Barstool Sports after ESPN reporter Sam Ponder pointed to offensive comments leveled at her by Barstool staffers, and some critics say they’ve faced often-misogynistic hate from Barstool’s fans after speaking out against Portnoy.
Tangent
Several other high-profile figures have attempted to sue news outlets in recent years, with mixed results. Then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 defamation lawsuits against the New York Times and CNN were tossed out by federal judges, and a judge rejected attorney and Trump opponent Michael Avenatti’s suit against Fox News last year, though Sarah Palin’s years-old defamation suit against the Times made it to trial last week. It’s often difficult for public figures to win defamation lawsuits against news outlets because—per the Supreme Court’s 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan ruling—they generally need to prove a publisher knowingly printed false statements, or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/02/07/barstool-sports-founder-portnoy-sues-insider-over-articles-alleging-violent-sexual-behavior/