Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is banned by Twitter for ‘violating site rules’ after argument with critic – but is restored hours later after ‘FreeDavePortnoy’ begins trending
- Dave Portnoy, 44, was briefly suspended from Twitter on Friday evening
- The founder of digital media company Barstool Sports has 2.5 million followers
- At 8:30pm on Friday the hashtag FreeDavePortnoy began trending online
- His account said: ‘Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules’
- The official page of Barstool Sports pleaded on Twitter with CEO Jack Dorsey
- Portnoy’s account was reinstated at 9:10pm and no explanation given
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy was briefly suspended from Twitter on Friday evening, with his access only restored when ‘FreeDavePortnoy’ began trending.
Portnoy, 44, has more than 2.5 million followers on the platform, which he famously describes as ‘sports/smut’.
At 8:30pm on Friday, users noticed that his account had been suspended, with the message: ‘Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules.’
He had tweeted 11 times on Friday, serving up the usual mix of ‘bro’ jokes, sports references and pizza reviews. There was little that looked out of the ordinary.
Dave Portnoy, the founder of ‘sports/smut’ digital media company Barstool Sports, on Friday was suspended briefly from Twitter. He was swiftly reinstated, with no explanation given
The official account of Barstool Sports, a digital media company founded in 2003, then tweeted directly to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, attaching a photo of Dorsey and Portnoy.
‘Only one man can save us now @jack #FREEPORTNOY,’ they wrote.
Around 9:10 p.m., the account was restored.
It was unclear why specifically Portnoy had been banned.
According to the site: ‘Twitter’s rules ban violence, harassment, sharing of private information and spam.’
Asked why, a Twitter spokesman said: ‘We’ve no comment at this time however the account you reference has been reinstated.’
Prior to being suspended, Portnoy had tweeted in response to criticism of shares in Penn National Gaming, which he holds: ‘So sell it. Mark your calendar. Dm me 1 year from today. Let me drop my nuts on your head.’
He then tweeted a review of a pizza restaurant in Nashville, and jokes about horse racing at Royal Ascot.
Among those to have been suspended from Twitter this year are Donald Trump, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, and Steve Bannon.
They have not had their accounts reinstated.
Portnoy tweeted a clip of wrestler Ric Flair ranting: ‘I’m the dirtiest player in the game! The dirtiest! I’m riled up right now.
‘I will stop at nothing to stay on top. Nothing, nothing. I will not move out of that big house.
‘I will drive nothing but Mercedes or Rolls-Royce.
‘I will go nowhere on commercial air. I will ride in nothing but limousines. And I will make love to nothing but the best-looking women in the world.
‘You know why? Because I’m a winner.’
Portnoy captioned it: ‘I’m back.’
