Barstool's Dave Portnoy fumes over firing of staffer over rap lyric slur: 'I hate the decision'

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy talks with Brian Kilmeade about tonight’s Super Bowl game and Tom Brady’s retirement, saying, ‘Barstool may not be where it is without Brady.’

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said parent company, Penn Entertainment, forced him fire popular personality Ben Mintz for rapping the "n-word" during a live show because it feared government retaliation. 

"Bad news, this sucks. So, today we had to fire Ben Mintz," Portnoy said to open an "emergency press conference" video he posted on social media. "Bottom line is this, I hate the decision. I don’t agree with the decision, but it’s not my decision to make and when we sold Barstool to Penn, we knew what came with it."

Earlier this week, Mintz failed to censor himself when reading rap lyrics on a live edition of "Wake Up With Mintzy." Following the incident, Mintz said he made an "unforgivable mistake" and apologized. 

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Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said parent company, Penn Entertainment, forced him fire popular personality Ben Mintz for accidently rapping the "n-word" during a live show because it feared government retaliation.  (The Dave Portnoy Show With Eddie & Co/Youtube)

In 2020, Penn acquired 36 percent of Barstool Sports from The Chernin Group for $163 million before buying the remainder of the company for an additional $388 million earlier this year, according to the New York Post. The company operates gambling properties in 20 states, which require licenses that Portnoy said can be easily revoked. 

"He rapped a racial slur, he turned White as a ghost, you could tell instantly he was like, ‘Oh my God, what did I