Philadelphia police investigate antisemitic incident at Barstool bar

Philadelphia police are investigating and a Temple University student has been suspended following an antisemitic incident at the Barstool Sports bar in the city Saturday night.

Video on social media shows a woman who appears to be a server at Barstool Sansom Street carrying a sign that bears an anti-Jewish message with profanity, which a man seen in the video repeats multiple times.

Barstool Sansom Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

Police are gathering information and will provide an update “as soon as possible,” Officer Tanya Little, a police spokesperson, said in a statement Sunday.

Temple University said in a statement Sunday that students at the school “were involved in an antisemitic incident at an off-campus location” the night before.

It said it identified one student believed to have been involved and placed that student on interim suspension. It did not name the student.

The Division of Student Affairs is investigating, and the school said anyone else found to have been involved “will face strict disciplinary action,” including possible expulsion.

“In the strongest terms possible, let me be clear: antisemitism is abhorrent,” university President John Fry said in the statement. “It has no place at Temple and acts of hatred and discrimination against any person or persons are not tolerated at this university.”

Barstool founder Dave Portnoy commented on the incident Sunday in an expletive-filled video on social media that he called an “emergency press conference.”

Portnoy, who is Jewish, said he was so mad about the incident that he shook for two hours. He said he was making it his life’s mission to “ruin these people,” adding that he is “coming for your throat.” He softened his tone in a later post, saying the incident can serve as a “teaching moment.”

Portnoy said later that the two bottle service workers serving the table have been fired.  

In the first video, Portnoy said he had spoken with one of the two servers, a man who was tagged in the video shared on social media, and one of the people who Portnoy said “did it.” He said in a later post that he gave the culprits “1 hour to make it right.”

Security video from the bar indicated the person tagged in the video on social media was not in the establishment at the time of the incident, Portnoy said.

“What I’m saying is I’m getting the names. I’m trying to be a little responsible. I’m trying to keep it together. But I’m on it,” Portnoy said.

Portnoy closed out his Sunday social media posts about the matter with a second “emergency press conference” video.

Upon reflection, he said, his initial reaction to “burn these people to the ground” was not the best course of action.

“Let’s try to, like, turn a hideous incident into maybe a learning experience,” he said.

Portnoy said he spoke to the two people who are alleged to have ordered the anti-Jewish sign, as well as to their families. He said they have agreed to his offer to send them to visit Auschwitz, a World War II concentration camp in Poland that now offers tours and educational materials.

He said that he hopes they learn something and that in the future they think twice before they throw words around.

“To me, that’s a fair outcome of this event,” Portnoy said. “We’re going to send them … to Auschwitz and learn a little bit about history and hopefully, you know, get educated and use this as a teaching moment, not just for them, but maybe for everybody.”