The assassination of Charlie Kirk has resulted in multiple members of the sports world losing their jobs over social media posts regarding the conservative influencer’s death. But while most of those stories have centered on comments celebrating Kirk’s death, one now-former Barstool Sports intern is claiming he was let go for a post expressing sympathy.
Taking to X on Monday, conservative activist and “anti-establishment” journalist Aidan Kearney amplified a post from the person who was previously responsible for running Barstool’s Texas Tech affiliate account. In the post, the TTU student claims he was let go from his job after making a post on the account “offering prayers” for Kirk’s family, as it allegedly violated the company’s policy regarding posts about politics.
“Dave Portnoy and Barstool love to pretend they’re rebels, that they’re uncensored, that they’re different,” the student wrote. “The truth? They’re hypocrites. Weak. A fraud of a company that silences its own people for showing humanity. They’ll exploit tragedy when it gets clicks, but fire someone for showing empathy.”
In his retweet of the post, Kearney also accused Portnoy of hypocrisy, while calling on him to rehire the student with a raise. That prompted a response from the Barstool Sports founder, who confirmed that the now-former intern had violated the company’s policies while also adding that he wasn’t aware of the situation until the student called him out publicly.
“I hate this kid. He was an intern in a program of 200 interns. We have pretty hard and fast rules not to do politics or personal opinions on those accounts. This was in place before any of this,” he wrote. “If you run a brand account for any company you don’t do personal stuff from the brand. It’s day 1 stuff. We don’t want 200 teenage interns giving their takes on the world. Every single account followed the rules. He was the only 1 that didn’t and then he also started fighting with people in comments calling them assholes. It had nothing to do with what he said and just how we run a massive intern program.”
Portnoy added: “To be honest I didn’t even know it happened till I saw this kid call me a fraud. Maybe if he reached out to me first instead of going wacko I coulda helped. So I have no sympathy for him. He’s trying to use this to build his career. Scumbag move to be honest.”
Coulda just asked me you turtleboy you idiot.
I hate this kid. He was an intern in a program of 200 interns. We have pretty hard and fast rules not to do politics or personal opinions on those accounts. This was in place before any of this. If you run a brand account for… https://t.co/OLldgTSlXO
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 16, 2025
In a subsequent reply, Kearney questioned why other Barstool employees were allowed to express their personal beliefs on social media. Portnoy — who had expressed his own personal sympathies following the death of Charlie Kirk — reiterated that the rule specifically applies to interns running Barstool-branded accounts and that he might have been willing to help the student had he reached out privately first.
Ultimately, Portnoy’s stance is clear: the intern in question had violated the company’s policy regarding personal and political statements on the company’s accounts. And any chance he had of rectifying the situation ended the moment he began to publicly bash the company and its founder.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.