Dave Portnoy just gave us one of the more fascinating insights into business at Barstool Sports.
What began with Portnoy coming to the defense of his cohost and employee Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia against her alleged abuser Zach Bryan in late 2024 has grown into a wide-ranging saga that includes the BFFs podcast Portnoy previously cohosted with LaPaglia as well as the end of LaPaglia’s partnership with her childhood friend, Grace O’Malley.
In a recent TikTok, Portnoy added a new layer to the drama by clarifying the structure of O’Malley’s Barstool contract following her reference to the deal in a podcast appearance in which she called it “interesting” and suggested she was underpaid.
“It does bother me when people say they’re not getting paid fairly,” Portnoy said.
The Barstool owner and founder said that O’Malley earned a $175,000 salary.
Barstool also gave O’Malley a 70 percent cut of any deals it struck for her to promote brands on her personal social media accounts, according to Portnoy. That amounted to $75,000 in 2024, he said.
“Total salary last year, quarter-million,” Portnoy said.
@stoolpresidenteGrace went on Theo Von podcast and sort of insinuated like we didn’t pay her fairly so I figured I’d just say what she made here so people can decide for themselves. She was in the last year of a 3 year deal.♬ original sound – Dave Portnoy
In an appearance this week on This Past Weekend with Theo Von, O’Malley claimed she was paid less than LaPaglia for their work together on Plan Bri Uncut. O’Malley also told Von she did not get paid any money for the podcast tour they did together.
Portnoy explained that LaPaglia made more money than O’Malley because she’s a more popular host. And neither host was paid a bonus from the tour revenue.
“Bri was a much bigger personality, way more followers, bigger everything,” Portnoy explained. “As far as not getting paid (for) the tour … she’s talking about the Plan Bri tour, which was really Bri’s tour. She’s obviously on it and she’s getting paid a decent salary, and that’s how we pay hosts. Bri and Grace’s salary.
Before LaPaglia cut O’Malley off of Plan Bri Uncut and O’Malley left Barstool, Portnoy said he was negotiating a deal with O’Malley on a new podcast. That deal would have given O’Malley a 50/50 split of revenue after Barstool made back her $175,000 salary in a given year.
Portnoy also said he hoped to sell sponsorships around O’Malley’s comedy tour, but she declined.
“I don’t like when people make it seem like we scam our creators, because we f***ing don’t,” Portnoy said.
Since leaving Barstool, O’Malley launched her own comedy tour and struck a deal with former Barstool host Alex Cooper’s Unwell network in partnership with SiriusXM.
Beyond the Plan Bri Uncut situation, Portnoy’s comments reveal the collaborative way in which Barstool compensates talent and encourages growth. To his credit, Dave Portnoy continually ropes in talent beyond the usual Barstool stable — including Cooper, LaPaglia, Arian Foster, Alex Rodriguez, and Deion Sanders — by offering a lucrative platform and a generous pay scale.
