Dave Portnoy Is Sending Accused Antisemite from Philadelphia on Paid Trip

Dave Portnoy (Getty Images)

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Update: Since we originally published this story, Dave Portnoy has posted a new video, claiming that Temple University student Mohammad Adnan Khan has now stated that he was not the one responsible for the “Fuck the Jews” sign. Portnoy has withdrawn his offer for a paid trip for Khan to Poland.

Dave Portnoy Is Sending Accused Antisemite from Philadelphia On a Paid Trip

MAGA bro and professional pizza pundit Dave Portnoy had a very bad PR moment over the weekend. On Saturday, at Portnoy’s Barstool Sansom Street bar, some fellow bros popped into the bar and ordered bottle service, complete with a “Fuck the Jews” bottle service sign.

Now, if you are scratching your head wondering what that means, I’m pretty sure that if you order bottle service at Barstool, the staff will customize a sign for your table in the VIP section. So, along with your bottle of overpriced booze and mixers, you can get “Happy Birthday, Joe” or “I’m Getting Hitched Tomorrow” or “Single and Ready to Mingle” or, you know, “Fuck the Jews.”

The sign quickly made its way onto social media, and all hell broke loose. Portnoy, who is Jewish, released a couple of videos of his own on Sunday, identifying Temple University student Mohammad Adnan Khan, who goes by Mo Khan, as the antisemitic customer. Khan allegedly posted the message “Throw a quarter on the ground, find a Jew” on the same day as the sign incident. Temple swiftly placed Khan on suspension. Portnoy said the two waitresses who served the table were fired, referring to the one as “honey,” “this girl,” and “one of the dumbest fucking humans I’ve ever talked to in my life.”

Portnoy insisted that he wanted real consequences for all those involved, and those real consequences now include Portnoy sending Khan to Poland to visit Auschwitz. At the very least, Portnoy should force Khan to be chaperoned on the entire trip by a couple of Holocaust survivors.

According to his since-deleted LinkedIn page, Khan, who could not be reached for comment, is an honors double major in marketing and information systems management and a “determined individual with a strong entrepreneurial background.”

I did enjoy this headline on Reddit in reference to Portnoy: “Guy who promotes the ‘Good People on both sides’ candidate is shocked by rising antisemitism.”

Kristen Welker vs. Donald Trump

Philadelphia’s own Kristen Welker has been at the helm of Meet the Press since September 2023. And on Sunday, she had her biggest show to date thanks to a lengthy sit down with Donald Trump.

She dutifully questioned Trump on a wide variety of topics relating to his first 100 days in office. Trump did his typical “fake news” rants, at one pointing calling the interview with Welker “dishonest” because she had the nerve to say that prices for some consumer goods were going up.

Trump had a lot to say about baby dolls, stating that if the prices on baby dolls go up, maybe a kid can get by with three dolls instead of 30. Welker questioned him about the lack of due process for people here illegally, asking him if he believes non-citizens deserve due process. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.” Welker fired back with, “Well, the Fifth Amendment says as much.” And then Trump told her “it might say that” but that if we had due process for all the people he’s trying to deport, “we’d have to have a million or two million or three million trials…”

You can watch the full interview here. And if some of Trump’s statements sound a little iffy to you, consult the NBC News fact check of the interview.

Innovations

The suburbs finally discover roller derby.

Oh Right: The Primary Is Coming Up

And it looks like Downingtown just might get the state’s first openly transgender mayor.

By the Numbers

46:13.73: Fastest time in the weekend’s 10-mile Broad Street Run. That’s in the male category. The fastest female came in at 54:01.81. The fastest non-binary person ran it in 52:17.67. And the male wheelchair winner’s time was 37:19.74. Might be time to get off the couch and get ready for next year’s.

5: Days this week with rain in the forecast.

$1.5 million: Value of 16 heists in the Philly area that included lots and lots of meat.

74 percent: Portion of non-resident employees of Center City companies who are back in the office. (I am writing this from my bed.)

Local Talent

When I was putting together my annual Summer Concert Guide for the May issue of Philly Mag, I noticed that Phish is coming to town. I loathe Phish and was going to completely exclude them. Instead, I decided to have an open mind and ask Casey Boy from the Preston & Steve Show to do his best to defend the jammy wankers.

I first became a Phish fan way back in 1993. I’ve seen them more than 80 times, from Philly to Maine to Miami. And as the die-hard Phish fan that I am, I’ve heard it from so many people over the years about how much the band sucks. What band never plays a song the same way twice? What major band would show up to a sold-out concert and tell the crowd, “We’re about to play hours of new music you’ve never heard before”? The answer is Phish.

This is a band that surprises fans by covering entire albums, whether it’s Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon or the Who’s Quadrophenia. This is a band that did a 13-night run at Madison Square Garden and never repeated a single song. Going to a Phish concert is a little bit like listening to a jukebox, where you might hear a rocking song, then a bluegrass song, then a barbershop quartet song. A lot of people like the Foo Fighters. You know what? I like the Foo Fighters. But the thing about the Foo Fighters is this: Every Foo Fighters song sounds like the Foo Fighters. With Phish, you just never know what you are going to get.

You can read more fun stuff in our Summer Concert Guide here.