Dave Portnoy (Scott Roth/Invision/AP)
The threats have increased exponentially over his public support of Israel and stand against antisemitism.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Jewish social media influencer and Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy said he is facing antisemitism “every day” now as a result of his public support for Israel and stand against Jew-hatred.
“I’ve seen in my own experience just being Barstool, the difference between how much hate I get,” Portnoy said in a preview released Tuesday of an interview on the upcoming CBS Sunday Morning show.
“I mean, occasionally you get a ‘kike’ or ‘Jew’ or whatever. It’s every day now. Like there’s a definitive shift in what’s going on.”
Instead of intimidating him, it galvanized him.
“For me, being a Jewish person, like, you got to step up,” he said. “You’re kind of someone people look up to in the Jewish community. You have to be like, ‘All right, this is not normal haha with the guys.’ People are coming in with real hate.”
He said he has felt the need for 24/7 protection at home “because it only takes one lunatic.”
Soon after taping the interview Friday, Portnoy, who is famous for his One Bite Pizza Reviews, was vilified by an antisemitic heckler who yelled at him, “F*** the Jews, f*** you, Dave Portnoy,” and threw coins at him as he was commenting on a pizza shop’s product in Mississippi for his online show.
Police arrested Patrick McClintock, 20, three days later and charged him with the misdemeanor of disturbing the peace.
Portnoy reacted to the incident with disbelief.
“Imagine hating someone just because of their religion in this … country,” he said.
Hugely popular, especially among young male American conservatives, Portnoy made himself a target by standing strongly against antisemitism, especially on college campuses, which exploded after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
In May 2024, he told Fox Business that he would not hire any anti-Israel collegiate protesters.
Discussing the Jewish students who have been facing constant verbal and physical abuse, he said, “There is no other group of people – I don’t care if we’re talking African Americans, Asians, women – that could be so openly intimidated on campus and just have the administration sit there and do nothing.”
“The second you start intimidating other groups … and supporting a terror group – Hamas – that you cannot do, and you should be punished, thrown in jail, and I don’t want to hear you cry about it, either,” he added.
Ahmad Vahidi ultimately became the new IRGC chief and was viewed by Israeli officials as…
Capt. Eliav Haim Tzaflamos, 21, from Haifa, was killed by the Humvee accident, three others…
One scenario being examined would have Israel take the lead in a joint military operation.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani adamantly refused to condemn or alter his Oct. 7…
Sa’ar said the diplomatic onslaught against the Jewish state is fed mainly by left-wing governments…
More than half of Israelis, both Jewish and Arab citizens, believe the war has increased…