A Temple University student was suspended and police are investigating after Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy responded to videos showing an antisemitic sign was displayed at the company’s downtown Philadelphia bar over the weekend.
When customers order bottle service at the Sansom Street bar, they can also choose a few words to put on a large sign displayed inside. At least one student was involved with an order for “(expletive) the Jews” to be mounted on the sign Saturday, May 3, according to the university and Portnoy.
The incident was followed by widespread condemnation once images of the hate speech circulated online.
One Temple student has been suspended for their alleged involvement in the now-viral incident, the university said in a statement on Sunday, May 4. The Philadelphia Police Department confirmed the department is looking into the matter, officer Miguel Torres confirmed to USA TODAY on May 5.
Portnoy, the 48-year-old founder of the popular Barstool Sports media company, who is Jewish, posted an expletive-filled statement about the event to social media pages on Sunday.
Who is Dave Portnoy? Barstool Sports founder built a media empire
“Maybe I can use this as a teaching moment,” Portnoy said in a video posted to X Sunday afternoon.
“More importantly, the people who ordered these signs, they have agreed − [and] I’m going to pay for it − we’re going to send them to Germany, to Auschwitz, [to] learn a little bit about history, and hopefully, you know, get educated and use this as a teaching moment,” he said in his Sunday video. “So for everyone who wants these kids’ lives to be ruined – I think I think you can lay off and I think is a fair (expletive) trade.”
The employees who complied with the customers’ request were fired, according to a post on the bar’s Instagram page.
Both the bar and Temple University included strong rejections of antisemitism in their comments.
“In the strongest terms possible, let me be clear: antisemitism is abhorrent,” said Temple University President John Fry. “It has no place at Temple and acts of hatred and discrimination against any person or persons are not tolerated at this university.”
The Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia also issued a condemnation of the incident in a post on X Sunday.
Kathryn Palmer is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and on X @KathrynPlmr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Portnoy criticizes antisemitic sign at Barstool bar; student suspended
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