What’s going on with ‘The Mean Girl’ podcast drama? There’s been some heat between Barstool co-workers and even “El Presidente” Dave Portnoy.
Just the Gist:
‘Mean Girl’ podcast hosts Jordyn Woodruff and Alex Bennett posted an insensitive video after Barstool layoffs.
Several Barstool employees criticized the video, including Chris Klemmer.
Barstool “El Presidente” Dave Portnoy threatened to fire Chris on Barstool Radio.
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There’s never a shortage of drama at the Barstool HQ, and thanks to Mean Girl podcast hosts Jordyn Woodruff and Alex Bennett, we got some Labor Day-themed drama to sip on with our tea. Although they have a pod literally called “Mean Girl,” Jordyn and Alex are totally lovable to their listeners. And they’re both irreplaceable assets to Barstool.
But when they went back to the office on Tuesday, Sept. 5, they decided to stir up drama with a controversial tweet after a series of layoffs. Although the tweet has since been removed, Barstool employee Jack Mac has filled us in on all the drama, from the OG tweet to Dave Portnoy almost firing a blogger on the air.
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The ‘Mean Girl’ podcast drama started with a tweet they posted after Barstool’s layoffs.
In order to understand the scope and background of the original tweet, we need to understand a bit of Barstool’s more recent history. In early 2020, Penn Entertainment spent $527 million to acquire Barstool Sports as part of their casino and betting business. However, when Penn partnered with ESPN, they had to unload Barstool back to its founder, Dave Portnoy.
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But Dave has a *tricky* past. He filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004, had a tax lien filed against him in 2020, was in a leaked sex tape, has been caught saying the N-word and joking about blackface, has been detained on NFL-related incidents, and has been the subject of sexual misconduct allegations. All of this caused Barstool to lose gaming licenses in different states after it was handed back to Dave.
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Because of that, Barstool lost several of its brick-and-mortar sportsbooks, which had been converted into sports betting lounges that are now unusable. All of this led to losses for Barstool, which has now had to lay off many of its 300 employees. As of early September 2023, 100 people had already been laid off. Upon hearing about the layoffs, many people commented that they wanted Jordyn and Alex to lose their jobs.
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So when Jordyn and Alex went to work on Tuesday, they made a video with the caption, “When you show up to work Monday not fired even though all the Stoolies wish you were,” as they smiled and walked through the door triumphantly. However, many of the laid-off employees saw their video as insensitive. Jordyn quickly removed the video, but that didn’t stop other Barstool employees from sharing their opinions.
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Barstool blogger Chris Klemmer was almost fired by Dave Portnoy for his reaction.
Several Barstool current and former employees voiced their discontent with the Mean Girl’ tweet. But no one came under more scrutiny than sports blogger Chris Klemmer. Chris retweeted the original tweet and said, “This is such a sh–ty and tone-deaf tweet. Also, it’s Tuesday.”
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In all fairness, when Jordyn realized how tone-deaf it was, she removed the video and apologized. Even “El Presidente” Dave admitted that it was tone-deaf at the start of the Barstool Radio recording. Despite this, Dave’s tweet back at Chris is what really brought the heat to the fire.
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“You know what is tone deaf to me,” Dave tweeted. “An easily expendable person like yourself not writing 1 blog over weekend after layoffs. I’m not defending their tweet. I just don’t think tone-deaf people should chirp tone-deaf people. If you didn’t work at all I was paying close attention.” Naturally, this stirred up a storm between Dave and Chris, so they decided to address it on Barstool Radio.
“Why do you care? Why don’t you mind your own business?” Dave said to Chris on the radio show. “I thought it was a sh–ty tweet and I called it out,” Chris responded. “I’m not going to stick to some hierarchy of who I can and cannot go after. I’m not gonna do that.” Dave compares Chris to “the last guy on the roster” of a sports team, hinting that he’s expendable and replaceable.
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You know what is tone deaf to me. An easily expendable person like yourself not writing 1 blog over weekend after layoffs. I’m not defending their tweet. I just don’t think tone deaf people should chirp tone deaf people. If you didn’t work at all I was paying close attention https://t.co/xnG79uZ21P
“You won’t last long here,” Dave said, threatening to fire Chris on the air. “I’m 43 years old, I’m not going to sit there and be a b–ch,” Chris touted. “But you’re going to be jobless,” Dave retorted. The fun of this for us viewers is that it’s like watching a sparring battle between two men that we know was partly crafted for our entertainment, especially since Chris still has his job.
No matter how real or not the Barstool and Mean Girl podcast drama is, someone needs to grab the popcorn while we take a seat and watch it play out.
Olivia Ponton has been very open about her sexuality. But is she as ready to talk about who she is dating at the moment? Read on for the latest.
Source: Getty Images
The Gist:
Olivia Ponton is proud to be bisexual.
She previously gushed about her relationship with Kaila Novak.
Fans really rooted for their relationship in the past.
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Model and influencer Olivia Ponton has credited TikTok and a move to Los Angeles for helping her embrace her sexuality and realize that being bisexual is even an option.
She also declared her love for a soccer star she first contacted online, Kaila Novak. But are the two influencers still together?
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Is Olivia Ponton still dating Kaila Novak?
In 2021, the TikToker and model, who is seemingly everywhere these days, was ready to open up about her sexuality to her fans.
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“I want to announce that I’m bisexual, and I’m now proud to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community,” Olivia said at the time, per Teen Vogue.
The rising star also credits JoJo Siwa, who shared her own announcement about her sexuality, for inspiring her to come out. “I saw that and thought ‘Wow, that’s really amazing for young children now because she’s such a big role model.’ And she’s really become almost a role model for me to look up to, as well.”
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It turns out that Olivia actually had her eye on someone in particular at this time: Kaila Novak. She reached out to the soccer star and influencer online, and from there the two eventually got serious.
In fact, the couple fell in love and subsequently shot down speculation that they were in a fake relationship simply to get clicks online.
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“Kaila and I have a very strong bond and we have a lot of trust in each other, so it really didn’t affect us that hard,” Olivia told Teen Vogue about such rumors. “But it hurts both of us because we know how much we love each other. We know we have such an [intense] bond, so it really hurt me to see her getting literally attacked over this.”
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By September 2022, Olivia said she was ready to start dating again.
Flash forward to 2022, and the couple was still together, but has since broken up according to Who’s Dated Who. To be fair, their relationship status is a little unclear, since no formal announcement of a split came out.
But, the partners haven’t featured one another on their respective TikToks lately. So, is Olivia coupled up with anyone else?
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In a TikTok posted in the fall of 2022, Olivia seemed to indicate that she was indeed single, sharing that she was “ready to start dating again.”
Around that time, rumors were circulating that Olivia had moved on to a new flame, having reportedly been spotted kissing Ella Kernkamp, another social media influencer. But it doesn’t seem that the two are in a relationship, and as far as we can tell, Olivia is either single, dating someone under the radar, or still back and forth with Kaila.
No matter where her dating life stands today, by the looks of her social media, she is living it up and enjoying the spotlight.
This 19-year-old teen mom got a standing ovation from the internet after she shared what she feeds her kids for dinner — pizza, chips, and fruit!
If you or a loved one is sick and tired of being sick and tired, rest assured that you aren’t alone. Inflation is on the rise and the economy seems to be going down in flames.
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Nevertheless, we persist. And if nobody’s told you today — I’m proud of you for waking up and giving it your best.
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After all, we could all use a little encouragement every now and then. Let’s take viral TikTok teen mom @alexis_marie125, for example.
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This 19-year-old teen mom shares what she makes for her toddlers’ breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
No matter how much money you have, I bet you’ve eaten a struggle meal or two in your lifetime. But Alexis makes five-minute feasts for her kids look like gourmet dinners.
In a viral video, Alexis — who is a teen mom of two toddlers — shared what she feeds her kids for dinner. On her kids’ plates were a handful of BBQ potato chips, pizza, and a side of fresh mixed fruit that she cut up by hand.
In other TikTok videos, Alexis prepares the kids’ breakfast and lunch, too. In fact, preparing “lazy 19-year-old mom” meals for her toddlers is kind of her niche.
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Social media applauded the teen’s “lazy mom” dinners: “You’re doing great!”
Needless to say, not all parents would agree with Alexis’s meal plan for her kids. However, the realists in the room could relate. Instead of criticizing her, commenters flooded the post with uplifting words. “My son has Taco Bell and a donut for dinner. You’re doing great!”
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“I had my first son at 16 and had my daughter at 20. They are 30 and 27 now,” @valleygurldragon wrote. “Time goes by so quickly. Cherish these meals. you’ll remember them fondly.”
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Another TikTok user echoed those sentiments. “Good job, at least they’re fed! My parents did the same thing as we were growing up,” they shared.
“Fed babies are happy babies, and props for cutting the strawberries and everything, sometimes I don’t have the energy for that,” @dumgf added.
The 19-year-old mom responded to critics of her kids’ food choices.
Alexis’s following is mostly supportive of her videos. And then, there are others, such as myself, who question whether or not Alexis’s kids have a balanced diet. To this, Alexis says: balance, schmalance.
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“I know that I make a lot of people mad by what I choose to feed my kids. I feed them what I know that they like and what I know that they will eat,” Alexis explained. “Now, I’m not saying that I don’t introduce new foods to them. But if I see that they don’t like the food that I am giving them, I take a break and I don’t force that food onto them.”
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The TikToker recalled: “As a kid growing up, I would be forced to eat something that I didn’t like, I would have to sit at the kitchen table until I ate the meal. And dealing with that, I became a very picky eater.”
“I was afraid to try new foods,” she added. “I don’t want to force my kids to eat stuff that they don’t like. I don’t want them to go through what I went through. As long as your kid is fed, that is all that matters.”
While some parents live in food deserts and are forced to feed their kids fast food out of necessity, Alexis is just feeding her kids junk because it’s easier. And I don’t know about you, but I have a problem with that. What do you think? Can a kid survive off McNuggets alone?
Livestreamer Johnny Somali was arrested in Japan after inciting controversy in the country for several months. He may face deportation.
The Gist:
Johnny Somali was arrested in Osaka, Japan.
The controversial livestreamer had been harassing Japanese citizens with racist remarks for months.
Folks on social media hope he gets deported back to the United States.
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Livestreamers and controversy seem to go hand in hand, but few have reached the level of infamy that Johnny Somali has in his career. According to Know Your Meme, he first established his online presence on YouTube back in 2011. He would later expand to channels like Twitch and Kick. As for his content, he mostly focused on traveling to Asian countries like Japan and Thailand. In 2023, however, he would come under fire for his inflammatory remarks while in Japan.
Starting in mid-May 2023, Johnny began trending on social media after he livestreamed himself harassing Japanese citizens with racist remarks. The backlash to his content became so severe that he even started getting attacked on the street by angry locals. Now, in a stroke of karmic comeuppance, Johnny Somali was arrested in Osaka. Here’s what happened and the kind of charge he faces.
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Johnny Somali was arrested in Japan after months of controversial livestreams.
Ever since arriving on an extended stay in Japan, Ramsey Khalid Ismael aka Johnny Somali began livestreaming himself as he threw out racist remarks against unsuspecting Japanese citizens in public. Much of his rhetoric included references to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Pearl Harbor. As his comments intensified, so too did the response from Japanese citizens. On multiple occasions, Johnny was physically assaulted during his streams by Japanese people who were increasingly fed up with his antics.
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After months of activity, he may have finally gotten what was coming to him. In late September 2023, Johnny Somali was arrested for trespassing at a construction site in Osaka while livestreaming.
According to a report by The Asahi Shimbun, he had broken into the area and harassed construction workers as they requested that he leave. Footage of the arrest was even captured during his broadcast, wherein Johnny attempts to start the “FreeSomali” hashtag. Jeremiah Dwane Branch was also arrested as an accomplice.
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Folks on the internet are calling for Johnny Somali’s deportation following his Twitch ban.
As of this writing, details of the charges have yet to be disclosed. However, people across the internet are already calling for Johnny Somali and his accomplices to be deported back to the United States. In the comments section of a Japan Todayarticle, one user wrote, “He should spend [a full sentence] and then be deported and blacklisted and sent back to the US where he can take his lack of skills and register for unemployment.”
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Many argue that his trespassing could be grounds for deportation, but his overall content of hate against the Japanese could also very well work against him.
Online calls for his deportation come mere months after Japanese Twitch streamer Meowko called for him to be banned from his online platforms. He was already previously banned on Twitch for his behavior but has remained active on Kick.
In May 2023, Meowko was openly harassed by Johnny during her own broadcast while he was still banned from Twitch. According to Twitch guidelines, Meowko could have faced a potential ban of her own by featuring a banned Twitch member on her stream, even though he intruded on her stream without her consent. The exchange reportedly left Meowko in tears as she called for Johnny to lose the rest of his platforms.
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Keep reading Distractify for more on this story as it develops.
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