How often do you get carried away while listening to a song and transcend outside reality? Don’t you get so hyped singing along to the lyrics, with all those sentiments rushing in?
That’s why we need music: to escape overthinking and sing along without worry. But this sentiment took a wrong turn for Ben Mintz, who is widely known as Mintzy.
The host of “Wake Up Mintzy” for Barstool Sports was reciting the lyrics to Bone Thugs N’ Harmony’s “1st of Tha Month” during a livestream on May 1, 2023. But the issue arose when he sang along to the N-word in the lyrics– “I get with my n***a to get me some yayo, double up, N***a, what you need?”. He soon took to his social media to clarify his mistake and apologize. But, Barstool Sports’ parent company, Penn Entertainment, decided to terminate Mintzy from the company.
Why Did Mintzy Get Fired?
According to Barstool Sports’ founder Dave Portnoy, he had to fire Minzty owing to the pressure from the higher-ups, a.k.a Penn Entertainment executives.
Barstool Sports, founded in 2003, is dedicated to sports journalism and pop culture-related content. The news portal was officially launched on the Internet in 2007. Barstool Sports gradually gained its popularity, roping in heavy hitters like Michael Rappaport to host podcasts on the channel, who was later fired for making a derogatory remark against a fan of the site.
Through multiple rounds of rising investment over the years, Barstool Sports established itself as a credible sports portal in the market. Then they received a hefty investment from Penn Entertainment on January 29, 2020, acquiring a 36% stake in Barstool Sports for $163 million. This gave the company a valuation of $450 million.
With that, the parent company also started regulating the company’s operations. With Mintzy’s incident, Penn Executives believed that firing him to show their intolerance towards any racial slur was the right decision. However, Dave Portnoy disagreed with the decision but still had to comply.
And it is not like Minzty was unhinged to the mistake. He immediately took to Twitter to apologize when he realized his slip of the tongue. He wrote–
“This morning, I made an unforgivable mistake slipping on air while reading a song lyric. I meant no harm & have never felt worse about anything. I apologize for my actions. I am truly sorry & ashamed of myself.”
Even with his Southern frat boy goofy persona, Mintzy showcased a pretty decent response to the incident, unlike the ukelele apology (ahem, Colleen Ballinger).
Our Two Cents: Firing him was a bit drastic reaction to an honest mistake. The N-word debate can take several routes, but all intersect at what was the intention. As seen in the live stream, it doesn’t seem that Mintzy had any mal intentions.
Latest Update
Dave Portnoy bought back Barstool Sports from Penn Entertainment on Tuesday. Some reports suggest that the buy-back deal was for nearly nothing ($0), but there is no confirmation yet.
Penn Entertainment only made the deal “in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants.”
However, the company is said to be valued at $606 million in February.
He had previously hired Ben Mintz for his other company, Brick Watch Co. No one can deny that the entrepreneur has integrity towards his employees, even though they can be problematic sometimes. Portnoy is also now in full control of the news portal and will keep advocating for “Free Speech.”
What is your take on the reason for firing Mintzy? Do you think he said the N-word on purpose? Should he have been suspended instead of getting terminated?
Let us know in the comments section below.
