Tipsheet

WaPo Slapped With Community Note Over Barstool Sports Piece. Dave Portnoy's Reaction Is Perfect.

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  September 23, 2023 1:30 PM

It’s nothing we didn’t expect from The Washington Post regarding their piece about Barstool Sports. Its founder, Dave Portnoy, through his network of informants, discovered the email the publication was sent to vendors participating in his One Bite Pizza Festival in New York this weekend, an event that hopefully is now washed away by Tropical Storm Ophelia who is working her way up the east coast. Portnoy called one of the reporters, Emily Heil, and in 10 minutes, exposed the paper’s bias and activism. 

El Presidente intercepted the hit piece, blunting any backlash, if any, that could have arisen—not that loyal stoolies would have abandoned the sports and pop culture site anyway. The whole backstory is absurd. Portnoy invited the best pizza joints he’s ever reviewed to this festival. His ‘One Bite’ pizza videos, which he’s done for years, have amassed a substantial following, capable of making or breaking an establishment. 

The piece did include a healthy amount of praise from the vendors for Portnoy, despite his supposedly controversial remarks and opinions from the past, though it was buried toward the end of the piece. That was surprising, but they also included some of the most unserious people I’ve ever seen: 

The Post tried to say that they had attempted to reach out to Portnoy on their social media page, which got a community note because that’s a bald-faced lie. Heil scheduled a call with Portnoy after he blew up her spot and then asked to reschedule. Portnoy refused to the new time because he knew the game: 

The reporter initially suggested 10 am which he agreed to. Then Wapo cancelled it and postponed to a later time that was close to the article publish time. This is a common tactic by the corporate press. 

El Presidente's response to the community note was classic: "The Washington Post got community noted for lying. Ain't no fun when the rabbit got the gun."

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Even ESPN writers were commenting on this spectacle, with Don Van Nata, Jr. lecturing about how WaPo did everything wrong. While he viewed the term “hit piece’ as cliched, he added that what the publication did sure fans those flames. 

“Often a source wants to chat before I was ‘ready’ to talk with the source. You do the interview anyway because you’ll likely learn things that’ll need more reporting before your deadline,” he wrote on Twitter.

 “And even if a source does NOT record you committing to a date/time? You do the interview!” 

Enjoy their pizza and stay dry on Coney Island. Viva la Stool!

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UPDATE: This response is hilarious, but WaPo and others won't get it because liberals are humorless.