Dave Portnoy Goes On The Offensive Against The WaPo — Reduces Journo To A Mumbling Mess!

Hats off to Dave Portnoy—the way he handled the hitmen from the Washington Post represents a masterclass on the subject.

Portnoy learned of a smear campaign and a hit piece against him through emails sent from Washington Post reporter Emily Heil to sponsors of his ‘Pizzafest’ event.

In response to this email, Portnoy “went on the offensive” and directly contacted the journalist attempting to write a hit piece against him.

What followed was 11 minutes and 49 seconds of pure gold—they tried to shame him and the people he knew, so he shut it down by going directly to the source and confronting her.

Once he did this, the big, bad Washington Post boogeyman melted; watch the interaction below:

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

Daily Caller explained:

The pair ultimately agreed to sit down for a telephone interview at 10 a.m. Thursday. Portnoy followed up later on Wednesday with an update on the telephone interview.

“The Washington Post just cancelled the 10am call. Shocker. They proposed 5pm instead. I said 10am or nothing.

They refused. What could suddenly be more important than this?

The article has to come out Friday. So they’d leave themselves a few hours before going to print?” Portnoy wrote on Twitter.

Producer Ryan James had this to say: “It’s scary how Emily Heil – from The Washington Post – is so open about this toxic “journalism tactic” involving providing someone with negative information to open up the portal of communication. She, like most modern day journalists, cannot be trusted.”

It’s scary how Emily Heil – from The Washington Post – is so open about this toxic “journalism tactic” involving providing someone with negative information to open up the portal of communication. She, like most modern day journalists, cannot be trusted. #DavePortnoy… pic.twitter.com/rRg6u69TUx

— ryan james (@hawXli) September 20, 2023

Christine Duhaime urged journalists to maintain neutrality in their reporting as opposed to engaging in defamatory statements or activist reporting.

Dave Portnoy tells Washington Post reporter its tortuous interference to defame him in an email; the reporter denies defaming him, then admits it. I don't know this guy but c'mon, neutrality in journalism, folks, let's keep it alive and let's not defame people. https://t.co/rXaDhG500H

— Christine Duhaime (@cduhaime) September 21, 2023

Portnoy wrote via his Barstool Sports website:

“The Washington Post was proactively reaching out to the sponsors of my Pizzafest on Saturday and trying to shame them for being associated with me.

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I believe the legal term for that is “treacherous interference.”

Anyway what I’ve learned over the years with these types of hit pieces is that can’t give an inch.

So rather than just sit back and let them dictate the pace of the game I decided I’d speed them up and make them play by my rules. Take em down into the mud where I live.”