Barstool Sports published a post today by writer Francis Ellis about missing Utah woman Mackenzie Lueck, which was live on the site for a period of time before being pulled down. Lueck has been missing since June 17th, but today police charged a suspect with her murder, after finding burned remains in his yard.
The post’s headline was “College Student Mackenzie Lueck, Fan Of Call Her Daddy And Proud Sugar Baby, Still Missing; Sorority Sisters Hopeful Due To Her Recent Instagram Activity”, and while it’s no longer online, it can be viewed here at Deadspin.
Barstool Sports, today. pic.twitter.com/PTexcbIg5C
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 28, 2019
Initially, Barstool editor-in-chief Keith Markovich tweeted that Ellis would no longer be allowed to publish stories on his own, to which Ellis replied with a gif:
https://twitter.com/FrancisCEllis/status/1144693796740960262
Later, as coverage of the deleted post intensified in the wake of the suspect’s arrest, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy tweeted this video announcing Ellis had been fired:
https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1144726398776557569
Ellis posted the following apology hours after Portnoy’s announcement.
— Francis (@franciscellis) June 28, 2019
Ellis had served as a writer at Barstool, and as a co-host on their morning radio show Barstool Breakfast. Today’s firing comes on the heels of HBO Real Sports featuring a critical segment on Barstool Sports which you can view here.
