Over the course of a two-hour interview with Shannon Sharpe, Dave Portnoy reflected on his career, the rise of Barstool Sports and his approach to dealing with his enemies.
And when the Hall of Fame tight end invoked Jason Whitlock’s name, the Barstool Sports founder didn’t mince words.
“He’s a clown. Jason Whitlock’s a clown,” Portnoy said. “Jason Whitlock is on the record as being, ‘I love Dave Portnoy. Dave Portnoy is the best. He’s this.’ Jason Whitlock is a click-chasing clown.”
The Boston native proceeded to point to Whitlock’s comments regarding Joy Taylor, who he made crude statements about after she was named as a defendant in the Fox Sports workplace misconduct lawsuit this past January. That also proved to be the starting point for a back-and-forth between the Blaze TV host and Portnoy, who Whitlock called a “sexual degenerate” after the 48-year-old publicly questioned the lawsuit against Taylor.
Portnoy said he’s never personally met Whitlock, but is of the opinion that the former Fox Sports host is merely fishing for engagement. To that end, “El Presidente” conceded that he had taken the bait.
“He’s gotten me a couple times to his credit, but he’s just fishing,” Dave Portnoy said of Whitlock. “He’s taking his little pole. He is like, ‘maybe it’ll bite and I’ll get some clicks.’ I try to ignore it. I tell people actually, ‘don’t send me bad stuff about me ’cause I have a hard time ignoring it. I don’t even want to know it exists.’
“My Achilles heel is I don’t give a f*ck. It’s like, I know I’m being played here. I know he is getting clicks. But this guy, I mean, he is a clown.”
As Portnoy’s comments made the rounds on Wednesday, Whitlock took to X to ask for the context of the conversation. But while it’s unclear when the interview with Portnoy was filmed — some clues indicate it was likely around the time of their public dispute regarding Taylor — there really isn’t any additional context beyond what’s already in the clip: that Dave Portnoy believes that Jason Whitlock is a click-chasing clown.
