One Bite Pizza Festival is over. Five thousand people braved the rain as Tropical Storm Ophelia moved up the east coast. The event was supposed to be innocuous: a gathering of the most excellent pizza establishments Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy could think of after years of doing his signature reviews that have amassed an enormous following. It turned into a battlefield for cancel culture.
I Caught Wind That The Washington Post Was Writing A Hit Piece About Me And My Pizzafest So I Did What I Do. I Went on the Offensive pic.twitter.com/5oK2zJqVAs
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 20, 2023
You already know the story: Dave was tipped off that The Washington Post was doing a hit piece on him over his event. He cold-called them and successfully flanked reporter Emily Heil. He exposed the publication’s bias in the process, possessing the email the paper had sent to the vendors. Essentially, it said why were they supporting Portnoy’s supposedly problematic past, or something:
Hi, just following up on this. We are planning to write about the festival and how some of the sponsors and participants have drawn criticism by seeming to associate themselves with Dave Portnoy, who has a history of misogynistic comments and other problematic behavior. I wanted to make sure that [redacted] had a chance to respond to this since the company is the most prominent of the “partners” for his festival.
Thanks,
Emily
The piece went live on Friday. It also got slapped with a community note on Twitter for lying to its audience. You’re not going to cancel Dave Portnoy or Barstool Sports. Some vendors might not like some of Barstool’s content, but they were doing it for those who paid for the tickets and to reach new customers.
This weekend, New York will host Dave Portnoy's One Bite Pizza Festival.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 22, 2023
Participating pizzerias have had to navigate buzz around the festival and backlash against the Barstool Sports founder's controversial remarks and allegations of sexual misconduct. https://t.co/v2XqLxkJwg
The @washingtonpost got community noted for lying 😂😂😂. Ain't no fun when the rabbit got the gun https://t.co/kUtVMsFI9M
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 23, 2023
The event, while soggy, appears to be a success. Portnoy even encountered a New York Times reporter at one of the booths. The exchange was short and direct, with El Presidente saying she was probably saying bad things about him. She denied this. From the video, you can see she's trying to make small talk with the Barstool founder, with the reporter saying she was speaking to a man who flew from South Carolina for the festival.
“Yeah, I believe it,” said Portnoy. “She’s [NYT reporter] bad news.”
He wasn't giving her the light of day after The Washington Post incident.
New York Times reporter trying to play nice to my face. I know they’re nothing but bad news pic.twitter.com/JcERlGvpFE
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 23, 2023
Peter Grippo of Brooklyn Square Pizza also spoke with Portnoy about the harassment he received. He said he got numerous calls to his business, with folks telling him he was awful for participating in the festival. He shrugged it off. He got the number of one caller, so he called this person back in retaliation.
.@GrippoPeter from Brooklyn Square was getting calls all week harassing him for participating in @OneBiteFest, so he started calling them back and giving them a taste of their own medicine pic.twitter.com/O4wqqKIvfj
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 23, 2023
“Don’t break my balls,” Grippo would say in response.
“One guy, I got his number, so I called him back,” he said to laughter from Portnoy.
Thank you to all the pizzerias and everyone who came out to @OneBiteFest pic.twitter.com/fygvmOeHOL
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 23, 2023
5000 people in the pouring rain. Thank you to every pizza place who participated. Thank you to every sponsor who was part of it. Thank you to every person who showed up. Despite the rain today was the greatest pizza event of all time. Pizza is love #OneBiteFest pic.twitter.com/u33UxRAiwN
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 24, 2023
If you build it they will come. @OneBiteFest #pizza #onebitefest pic.twitter.com/8VZgkfdKAa
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 23, 2023
In the words of El Prez, “Pizza is love.” But some people want to make political hay out of it. Some sick, sad, lonely folks we have in the liberal press.
Of course everyone is jumping on the obvious but this is legitimately one of the funniest things I've read https://t.co/15NC4K1Qbs pic.twitter.com/z7gQRRfHD8
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 22, 2023
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