Dave Portnoy calls out 6 ABC over ‘bait and switch’ interview following Barstool Sansom antisemitic sign incident

Dave Portnoy – What started as a night out in Center City ended in national outrage and disciplinary action, after an antisemitic sign was brought out with bottle service at Barstool Sansom Street, the Philadelphia bar backed by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.

📍Barstool Sports Philly last night – @stoolpresidente needs your attention. pic.twitter.com/P4hfbrTjZQ

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) May 4, 2025

Lets get this out of the way now. It goes without saying that Barstool Sansom employees and whatever idiots decided that’s the message they would send with bottle service are complete idiots. Who let that happen and why would anyone think that’s acceptable?

Dave Portnoy responds to antisemitic message at Barstool Sansom Street in Philly

Your guess is as good as mine but regardless, just a completely shit job by all parties involved and it only got worse once a video of the side went viral, sparking internet-wide backlash and a statement directly from Dave Portnoy via an “Emergency Press Conference” addressing the employees and patrons directly. Needless to say, Portnoy was absolutely furious.

Dave Portnoy on the “Fuck The Jews” sign at Barstool Sansom:

Emergency Press Conference – There was a “Fuck the Jews” sign at our Philly bar last night. I am shaking I’m so mad pic.twitter.com/DRlQc9woiA

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 4, 2025

“Everyone involved has to be the biggest dumbasses in the world,” Portnoy said in a follow-up post. “From the guys who ordered it, to the bottle service girls who thought the sign was justifiable, to then putting it on social media like it wasn’t going to upset people.”

Portnoy said he was “shaking” when he saw the video, and made clear this wasn’t something he was brushing off. The servers involved have been fired, and the students responsible — reportedly from Temple University — have been identified and contacted directly by Portnoy himself.

Temple University has since suspended one student on an interim basis, pending a full investigation. University president Richard M. Englert issued a statement denouncing the incident, saying it did not represent the values of the Temple community.

But Portnoy didn’t stop at firing staff or calling people out on social media. In what he described as an attempt to turn the outrage into education, Portnoy is sending the students involved to Auschwitz for a guided tour of the concentration camps.

“We’re going to send these kids to Auschwitz and they’re going to do a tour of the concentration camps in Germany, and hopefully learn something,” Portnoy said. “To me, that’s a fair outcome.”

Rabbi David Kushner, a Philadelphia police chaplain, confirmed Portnoy reached out personally and was “clearly distraught.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia also condemned the incident. “There’s no place for this kind of speech,” said Robin Schatz, Director of Government Affairs. “It was shocking.”

Barstool Sansom Street later posted a formal statement:

“We take all forms of discrimination incredibly seriously and are particularly upset by the actions taken against our Jewish patrons, colleagues, partners and friends. This unfortunate incident is the opposite of what we stand for.”

Philadelphia police and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) are both investigating.

Dave Portnoy vs. Action News

According to Portnoy, while being interviewed by a reporter from 6ABC, the conversation took a sudden left turn. In a post on X, he said:

“I just got in a screaming match with ABC Philadelphia scumbag reporter who tried to blame me and Barstool and white men for the ‘F*** the Jews’ sign.”

We don’t hear the reporter’s exact question in the video, but it’s clearly a female voice. The online story is credited to Katie Katro, which could suggest she was conducting the interview — though that hasn’t been confirmed.

Portnoy says he was ambushed with claims that Barstool Sports encourages harassment and toxic white male behavior, and was basically being blamed for the culture that led to the incident at his bar.

He responded like only Dave Portnoy can: by torching everyone in sight.

So @6abc begged me to do an interview about the incident at our bar. Since it was local I agreed. Then the reporter tried to say Barstool and I and white men were responsible for the incident. Austin started recording once it got contentious pic.twitter.com/ug8CX83HHp

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 5, 2025

Listen, I have zero doubts that 6 ABC tried to play the Barstool, white frat boys angle when talking to Portnoy. That’s a no-brainer and happens every single time Barstool goes mega-viral for anything but in this situation, much like the initial incident, you have to be a complete idiot to not realize what you’re doing by trying to spread that narrative.

Barstool and Portnoy specifically will obviously blast you for even suggesting that is that case and rightfully so. The fact that someone at 6 ABC wasn’t self-aware enough to point that out and shut down any questions even close to touching on that is organizational malpractice and now they’ll really understand the aftermath of their foolish actions.

Not to mention, what a stupid question to begin with. Obviously, Portnoy or Barstool wasn’t at fault and there was already a clear acknowledgment about the employees at Barstool Sansom for botching the entire situation and allowing this to happen in the first place.

Here’s where we stand:

• The incident at Barstool Sansom Street was heinous.
• Portnoy handled it decisively and turned it into a teaching moment.
• Now, instead of being applauded for that, he’s caught in a blow-up with Channel 6 over what he says was a targeted hit job during a crisis response.

What should’ve been a clean-cut moment of accountability is now messy, media-fueled, and very much still developing.

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