Dave Portnoy never really wanted to fire one of his friends, but was forced to earlier this year.
Earlier this month, the Barstool Sports founder announced popular host Ben Mintz had to be fired from the company after he blurted out a racial slur while reading rap lyrics on a live stream. Portnoy said the decision was made by Barstool’s parent company, Penn Entertainment, despite him not wanting to do it.
Portnoy said the decision was made by Barstool’s parent company, Penn Entertainment, despite him not wanting to do it.
Fast forward to the end of this month, and Portnoy found a genius way to bring him back on.
Portnoy hired Mintz as a pitchman for Brick Watch, the watch company that Portnoy launched outside of Barstool last year.
Mintzy announced the next chapter of his career in a video.
“I am being rehired by Dave Portnoy as the first employee for Brick Watch, and I cannot be more happy about it,” Mintz said.
“This month has been so hard on me. Obviously, I made an unforgivable — but stupid and honest — mistake at the beginning of the month. It cost me so dearly. It cost me my job at Barstool Sports. I had to pay a hell of a price.”
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Mintz said that he appreciated the support of Portnoy, Dan Katz, and Barstool CEO Erika Nardini, who advocated against his firing from parent company Penn Entertainment.
Portnoy also responded to his video:
“Now that is my watch salesman! And it fits like a glove,” Portnoy tweeted. “I will not mention I sent the watches almost 2 weeks ago and he still didn’t get them sized! I don’t care! Bring the watches to the people Mintzy!”
Penn acquired 36 percent of Barstool Sports from The Chernin Group for $163 million in early 2020, and bought the remainder of the company for an additional $388 million earlier this year.
Penn also operates 43 brick-and-mortar casinos in 20 states under the brands Ameristar, Boomtown, and Hollywood Casino.
Everybody hoped that Mintz would land on his feet and he surely did so right back with his pals, but in a much different way. Time will tell if he will be able to get back to doing what he loves.
