Barstool president claims parent company forced him to fire host Ben Mintz for rapping N-word

Popular Barstool presenter Ben Mintz was fired from the company after making racist remarks while reading rap lyrics on a live stream earlier this week.

Mintz, known as Mintzy, got reactions when he said the N-word on Monday on his show ‘Wake Up Mintzy’ while rapping the Bone Thugz-N-Harmony song ‘1st of Tha Month’.

Two days later, Barstool president Dave Portnoy posted a video to Twitter announcing that the company had fired the host.

Portnoy added that Barstool’s parent company, Penn Entertainment, had forced him to fire Mintz, claiming the decision was not his. Dailymail.com has contacted Penn for comment.

He claimed the call was made despite him, Barstool CEO Erika Nardini and longtime talent Dan Katz insisting that Mintz had made an honest mistake.

Barstool president Dave Portnoy that their parent company forced him to fire Mintz

Portnoy added that the call to fire Mintz was made over concerns that the incident could jeopardize gambling licenses across the country.

“I hate the decision. I disagree with the decision. I wouldn’t have made the decision. But I’m not concerned with the things Penn has to do with in terms of state regulators etc,” Portnoy told The New York Post.

“Penn paid a lot of money for Barstool and they need to make the best decisions to protect their business. I trust and respect [Penn CEO] Jay [Snowden] that he does what he thinks is the right move and that’s all you can ask for. Doesn’t mean I always agree, but then again, he’s preoccupied with things I don’t have to think about.’

In a video announcing the resignation, Portnoy expressed shock and disbelief that Mintz’s “harmless mistake” could have hit the company with regulators.

“They believe there’s a legitimate chance that many states could revoke their licenses because of this,” Portnoy said.

Penn is a billion dollar company. Without their licenses, they are a zero dollar company. Investors, families, employees, thousands of people – they believe it’s their job to protect it all and the only answer is to fire Ben Mintz.

“I still didn’t agree, and maybe I’m being naive, but I’m like, ‘There’s no way someone could look at the clip and think the punishment fits the crime.’

“I get goosebumps when I think a man would lose his job because of an innocent mistake. Yes, terrible, but clearly no intention… It’s everything I’ve resisted for 20 years.’

Mintz had apologized for the slur on Twitter and insisted he meant no harm on Monday

Mintz himself had previously apologized for the slur and insisted he meant no harm by his actions.

“This morning I made an unforgivable mistake when I slipped in the air while reading lyrics,” Mintz tweeted Monday morning.

“I meant no harm and have never felt worse about anything. I apologize for my actions. I’m really sorry and ashamed of myself.’

Penn paid about $388 million for the remaining stake in Barstool Sports that it doesn’t already own, the sports and entertainment company announced in February.

Penn and Barstool Sports first announced an exclusive sports betting and iCasino partnership in early 2020. Penn took a 36 percent stake in Barstool Sports in February 2020 for approximately $163 million, consisting of approximately $135 million in cash and $28 million in non-voting convertible preferred stock. stock.

The initial deal included a path for Penn to acquire full ownership of Barstool Sports.

Barstool was founded in 2003 by Portnoy as a free sports and gambling newspaper. It is now a digital platform for sports, lifestyle and entertainment with more than 200 million followers.