Dave Portnoy Faced an Antisemitic Attack While Filming a Pizza Review

Although not all of his commentary is political, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is known in part for his willingness to say controversial things. Recently, though, Portnoy has claimed that he's faced an increase in antisemitic attacks. Case in point, a Mississippi college student was recently arrested for allegedly hurling an antisemitic attack at Portnoy while he was filming one of his pizza reviews in Starkville.

Following the news that an arrest had been made in the case, more people wanted to know exactly what happened to Dave, and whether he's really facing these kinds of attacks regularly.

The Starkville Police Department confirmed the news that Patrick McClintock, a former junior at the college, had been arrested in connection with the incident. In the video, McClintock can be heard saying, “F--k the Jews,” toward Portnoy, who is Jewish.

“Why don’t you come in the camera, buddy?” Portnoy responded in the video while gesturing for McClintock to come closer to him.

McClintock then apparently walked up to Portnoy and his cameraman to confront them before he ultimately walked away. In the video, other people can be heard yelling at McClintock about his remark. “F--k you, get out of here," one person said, while another said, “That was awful," in response to the confrontation.

Portnoy, meanwhile, has said that he has seen a marked increase in antisemitic attacks against him in the past few years.

“I’ve seen in my own experience, just being Barstool, the difference between how much hate I get. I never got — I mean, occasionally you get ‘Hey k--e’ or ‘Jew’ or whatever,” told CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil. “It’s every day now. There’s a definitive shift in what’s going on.”

Portnoy is also a public-facing, controversial figure, and he's never shied away from confrontation, but these kinds of explicit antisemitic attacks seem to be a new phenomenon.

McClintock, the man accused of harassing Portnoy in the video, was a mechanical engineering major at Mississippi State University before he voluntarily withdrew from academics on Nov. 10. According to The Reflector, the campus paper, he was hit with a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace, and a warrant for his arrest was issued over the weekend of Nov. 8.

He was processed and later released, with a bond set at $2,500. “Every person has the right to feel safe and respected in our community,” Starkville Police Department said in a statement to the paper. “Offensive words alone are protected, but when behavior disrupts a public event or risks violence, the Starkville Police Department will take steps to help maintain safety and security.”

Although the charges against McClintock are relatively minor, in part because of free speech protections, it's clear that his decision to make the comment has had a major impact on his life. He voluntarily withdrew from Mississippi State, but it's unclear what actions the college might have taken had he not done so.