Ben Mintz on Barstool firing: “I made a very stupid, but honest mistake”

Earlier this month, Barstool Sports announced that sports personality Ben Mintz, previously known on their platform as Mintzy, had been fired after saying a racial slur while reading song lyrics on a livestream

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said at the time that Penn Entertainment, which owns Barstool, made the decision. While he and Barstool CEO Erika Nardini disagreed with the decision and fought back against it, Penn, which owns Barstool outright as of February, ultimately had the final say on Mintz and his future with the company2 Portnoy said that Penn’s concern over how the controversy could scare gambling regulators was behind the decision.

Mintz tried to walk back his words and profusely apologize but the damage had been done. And one would think to his reputation as well.

Though, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Speaking with Barrett Sports Media, Mintz revealed that he has a lot of options on the table and that he’s still weighing on what his next permanent move will be. In the meantime, Mintz, who is a poker player himself, has a summer gig with PokerGo—an online content and streaming platform based in Las Vegas.

So, if you take Mintz at his word, the sports media landscape doesn’t view him as too radioactive to touch.

And with that, Mintz wanted to clear his name, but also make sure that it was known that he harbored no ill will to Penn Gaming for its decision to move on from him.

“Everybody that knows my character knows there was no maliciousness,” he told Barrett Sports Media. “I made a very stupid, but honest mistake. Just reading my song like a rap song, I had to pay a very big price for it. I have nothing negative to say about Penn Gaming at all. I put them in a terrible situation and I disagree with their decision, but that’s their decision. They’re a billion-dollar company. It is what it is. What I’m thankful for is that I thought I was going to be too hot to touch and it seems like it’s broken the other way.”

Shortly after being fired, Mintz tweeted an update, saying “I am in good spirits. I am def an idiot but I am also a resilient one. Will have a long video tomorrow thanking everyone. Way way too grateful to be too down.”

Quick Update

I am in good spirits. I am def an idiot but I am also a resilient one. Will have a long video tomorrow thanking everyone. Way way too grateful to be too down.

— Mintzy (@StoolMintzy) May 3, 2023

It appears that while Mintz is an “idiot”—his words, not ours, he was fortuitous enough to save his reputation. It’ll be interesting to see what his next move will be.

[Barrett Sports Media] Image via Wake Up Mintzy