Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy, has received backlash for his latest “one bite review” from Somerville’s Dragon Pizza, whose owner traded insults with the media mogul in a video that’s since gone viral.
The Swampscott native is known for his pizza reviews, where he tests out slices from pizzerias around the country, taking just one bite to determine if he likes the pizza. This past Thursday, he stopped by Dragon Pizza in Somerville and managed to get into a screaming match with the owner, Charlie Redd.
It started off with Portnoy criticizing the floppiness of the slice, and him saying the strong taste of parmesan was too much for his liking. He ended up rating the pizza a 6.4.
Redd confronted him during the review, telling him he did not “appreciate what [he does] to small businesses.” The two were soon exchanging expletives, and the scene was caught on camera (of course). Naturally, Portnoy posted the on his channel Thursday, calling Dragon Pizza “the worst pizza place in America.” The video had over 800,000 views as of Tuesday morning.
Redd spoke with Boston.com, telling them he’s receiving death threats. “It’s kind of new terrain for me. It’s mental,” Redd said. “But I don’t want to give him credit for complicating my life. We’re running our pizza shop, and everyone is happy. I’m receiving death threats. I’ve received threats at my home. I’m receiving tons of all sorts of different attacks in many different ways.”
As of Sunday, the shop had comments turned off on their recent Instagram posts, but were celebrating selling out all their slices, writing, “Another Day! SOLD OUT, thank you so much keep supporting us! Sorry for those guests [who] show up today and have to wait too long. [The] team did there best to make everyone happy!"
Meanwhile, according to the New York Post, Barstool Sports, which Portnoy recently reacquired, will be cutting its staff by nearly 25%, leading to the loss of around 100 jobs. The company was founded in Milton, Massachusetts, in 2003.