The pizzeria owner threatened to call the police at one point
NYC has a lot of problems, but pizza is the least of them: Dave Portnoy
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy reacts to New York City cracking down on coal and wood burning pizza ovens and previews the inaugural One Bite Festival, Sept. 23 in Coney Island.
A pizza review by Barstool Sports CEO Dave Portnoy went south on Thursday when the owner of a pizzeria wasn't too pleased with the social media star showing up.
The confrontation happened on Thursday when Portnoy visited Dragon Pizza in Somerville, Massachusetts – which he now calls "The Worst Pizza Place in America."
"It's a floppy mess," Portnoy said before eating the pizza. "Strong Parmesan. This is an acquired taste. Like if you get this, know you're going to get hit with a left-right in the face with Parmesan. I'm not the biggest parm guy…I just don't like parm. So I'm going to go…how do you score that, because if you like parm, fine, if you don't, I don't, 6.4."
"I know that's way off," he said.
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Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports is seen in attendance during the UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2022 in New York City. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Portnoy began talking to another person before Dragon Pizza's owner Charlie Redd came out and made clear he wasn't pleased with the Barstool CEO's presence.
"Dave, enjoy your pizza as any customer, but I don't appreciate what you do, coming in and judging a business with one bite," Redd said before going back inside.
Redd came out minutes later, saying "Let me be a little clearer – move on and don't stand in front of my business."
"Let me be clear – f--k you," Portnoy replied.
"Let me be clear, get the f--k out in front of my business," Redd said.
"This is a public street – this ain't your business," Portnoy tells the pizzeria owner, who threatened to call the police.
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Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy visits Faction Talk at SiriusXM Studios on November 14, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images) (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
"What are you going to taddle me on – for being on a public street," Portnoy said.
"For being a f--king b--ch," Redd states. "Just go f--k yourself and the whole f--king platform you're on."
After more back and forth, Redd takes a selfie in front of Portnoy while showing his middle finger.
"This is me posting you, telling you to f--k off," Redd said.
During the pandemic, Portnoy's Barstool Sports "Barstool Fund" raised over $41 million to support small businesses who were effected by shutdowns.
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL - JANUARY 25: Dave Portnoy attends the 2020 Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series at Gulfstream Park on January 25, 2020 in Hallandale, Florida. ((Photo by Johnny Louis/Getty Images))
Redd didn't respond to a request for comment from Fox News, but told Boston.Com "It’s kind of new terrain for me. It’s mental."
"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," he said.
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
