Dave Portnoy has shown he can hold a grudge against anybody. In fact, when former ESPN president John Skipper stepped away seven years ago, he popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate the two’s long-standing feud ending.
That’s why when ESPN fired Ponder, many thought Portnoy would react similarly after he blamed her for getting “Barstool Van Talk” kicked off the network after just one episode.
However, he offered a different response in a video posted on X.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Prez, where’s the Sam Ponder bottle?’” Portnoy said. “No Sam Ponder bottle, can you believe that? Listen, I took the first shot at Sam Ponder. Was it joking? Yeah. Do I think she and ESPN overreacted? I know so. But I’m fair. And I’ve said this about Ponder, buried the axe, buried the hatchet. I have no champagne bottle for her.”
“Sam Ponder, no grudge,” he continued. “I said some things, she held onto them, she played her card, I have no grudge with that. It’s when people come out of left field and start fights with me, and they come at me first. Ponder is not one of them. So, good luck to her in her next step.”
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Whatever problems existed between Portnoy and Ponder in the past have been settled between the two.
Dave Portnoy Claims Sam Ponder “Ambushed” Him At A Restaurant
Part of the reason he and Ponder may be on good terms is because of the way Ponder chose to handle their disagreement in person.
“Also Sam Ponder once ambushed me at a restaurant and got right in my face,” Portnoy wrote in a tweet. “We argued for an hour. Gained a ton of respect from me as opposed to people who hide in the shadows.“
