Barstool faces boycott calls after donating to LGBTQ+ organization (2024)

Barstool Sports has become the latest company to join an ever-growing list of brands facing boycott calls over support of the LGBTQ+ community.

In recent months, the number of large U.S. brands being targeted with boycott calls has grown dramatically. A host of different companies have unveiled products supporting Pride Month, which takes place every June. Companies supporting the LGBTQ+ community outside of Pride Month have also faced backlash from conservatives.

Bud Light was initially targeted in April for a small branded partnership it had with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Retailer Target has also been the subject of calls for boycotts. The company has said it received bomb threats after introducing its 2023 line of Pride Month merchandise.

Despite such inclusive marketing and branding initiatives being commonplace among corporations for years, many have become engulfed in controversy in recent months. Some experts have pinned the blame on a small number of influential far-right figures orchestrating a plan to make support for LGBTQ+ communities toxic for major companies.

Barstool Sports has now become target such furor, after the company's June 1 launch of its Pride Month merchandise.

"New Pride Month collection is now available at the @barstoolstore," read a caption to a video of Barstool Sports writer Patrick McAuliffe, popular known as Barstool Pat. "All net proceeds go to @LGBTCenterNYC."

The caption added that those who purchase a shirt will be automatically entered into a competition for a chance to win a trip to the Pride Parade in New York City. The winner will ride on the Barstool float with personalities from the outlet.

Perhaps unsurprisingly in the current climate, the post attracted a flood of detractors, with one tagging Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy as they voiced their disapproval.

"Barstool Sports is donating to a group that supports children getting sex changes and hosts workshops for kids to learn drag," they wrote at the start of a thread criticizing the company's support of New York City's LGBT Community Center.

On its website, the center describes itself as "a home and resource hub for the LGBTQ+ community, NYC residents, and visitors since our founding in 1983. We provide a place to connect and engage, find camaraderie and support, and celebrate the vibrancy and growth of the LGBTQ+ community."

The post prompted one Twitter user to write urging the public to "bankrupt" the company, while another tweeted it was "the beginning of the end for @barstoolsports."

"Never again Barstool Sports. Enjoy your Bud Light and trips to Target," wrote another user on Twitter.

McAuliffe noted the backlash regarding his video, tweeting: "Some all time replies in this tweet. Holy moly people are soft."

One Twitter user directly challenged McAuliffe for his post, stating: "You've worked at Barstool a very long time. Why is this the first time you're releasing Pride gear? Makes ya think."

"I've released Pride gear literally every single year I've been here," McAuliffe hit back.

Meanwhile, Barstool personality Joey Camasta responded to an abusive personal message he received as he shared a screenshot of the note.

Mocking the detractors, one Twitter user wrote: "Love seeing the stoolies that give the rest of us a bad name absolutely gutted right now that Barstool supports pride. @BarstoolPAT and @joeycamasta f****** rule and they ain't going nowhere. Anyone who doesn't like it can get launched into [oblivion]."

Amid the uproar, Barstool Sports host Francis Ellis tweeted a link to an article on the brand's website under the headline: "Pour One Out For These Poor Fans Who Are Now Boycotting Barstool Due To Our Pride Merch."

In the article, Francis shared screenshots of the disgruntled tweets, which he described as "petulant whine after petty sulk after pouty fit after pathetic mope."

"At some point, you have to laugh," Francis wrote. "Sure, there are some hateful, dark, hom*ophobic replies in there. But the vast majority were just people announcing their retirement from the Barstool Twitter account. Why... why would someone feel the need to do that? That's a very minor moment in a person's life.

"The internet is such a mess that I don't even bother to unfollow accounts I don't like anymore; I just keep going with the tiniest flick of my finger. And the idea of not only unfollowing that account, but TYPING a comment to let everyone know my displeased plan to quit? That is so much more work than ignoring it. These people are going out of their way to look like c****. They are, to borrow from the gays, outing themselves! I'll never understand it."

Newsweek has contacted New York City's LGBT Community Center via email for comment.

In May, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy spoke out after the share price of Penn Entertainment, the media outlet that owns Barstool, dropped significantly. This prompted comparisons to the Bud Light situation.

Ben Mintz had hosted his own morning show on Barstool Sports. He was fired after rapping song lyrics without censoring the n-word they contained. Penn has seen a hefty drop in value since the decision.

In a video podcast, Portnoy hit out at those who have tried to compare the situation to Bud Light and said that they are not the same. He also explained why they shouldn't be compared after Barstool faced backlash from fans for the decision to axe Mintz.

"You can use the Bud Light situation in which they got canceled in the public, they can choose to react," Portnoy said. "They can either buy a Bud Light or not buy a Bud Light. That is not our situation. Yeah, the stock went down, but that was on earnings than people reacting to it.

"You got to understand, the people who control the licenses with Penn answer to nobody, so you could say this 'hey, regulator... we're not firing him as we think he made an honest mistake' and the public can rally all they want to us, but it don't matter," Portnoy added. "It's four to 10 people who answer to nobody who don't like us to begin with."

Portnoy said that they used to have autonomy in how they operated, but since being bought by Penn, the situation is different.

"We've always had the benefit of how we operated and it has been like, we can do what we want as our fans and our base will have our backs," Portnoy added. "Penn does not have that luxury. That is a humungous difference on how this thing is being handled."