{"id":271957,"date":"2023-05-04T15:11:52","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T20:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=271957"},"modified":"2023-05-04T17:09:56","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T22:09:56","slug":"pokers-ben-mintz-fired-from-penn-podcast-for-racial-slur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokers-ben-mintz-fired-from-penn-podcast-for-racial-slur\/","title":{"rendered":"PENN Entertainment Fires Ben Mintz from Poker Podcast for Racial Slur"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poker player Ben \u201cMintzy\u201d Mintz was fired Wednesday from \u201cCracking Aces,\u201d the poker podcast he frequently co-hosts on the Barstool Sports<\/em> network, after he rapped along to a Bone Thugz-N-Harmony song during a live broadcast on Monday, May 1. The lyrics to \u201c1st<\/sup> of Tha Month\u201d include the n-word.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ben Mintz, seen above, has more than $620K in live tournament wins and no current podcasting job. (Image: Poker News<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mintz immediately and profusely apologized on Twitter, saying he \u201cmade an unforgivable mistake\u201d and “never felt worse about anything.” He received support from Barstool Sports<\/em> founder Dave Portnoy, who denounced what he called the company’s \u201cwrong decision\u201d in a Twitter video.<\/a><\/p>\n

I think anybody who watched the clip was like, \u2018There\u2019s no way he meant to do that,\u2019\u201d Portnoy said in the video. \u201cHe\u2019s just not the brightest bulb to ever come down the pipe. And he just screwed up. And he knew he screwed up. And there was no hatred behind it. No nothing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Portnoy, who, according to the New York Post,<\/em> has courted controversy by dropping his own n-bombs during podcasts, admitted he has no authority to reverse the decision since his sale of the remainder of Barstool to PENN Entertainment closed earlier this year.<\/p>\n

No Words Mintzed<\/h2>\n

Portnoy has faced his own criticism for the sale. In a separate Twitter video, he responded emotionally to critics: “I sold out. You\u2019re just figuring that out? \u2026 \u00a0Made hundreds of millions, made millions for everybody \u2026 Yeah, we sold the f*** out. And that\u2019s what you do when you\u2019re an entrepreneur.”<\/p>\n

Mintz. a popular and skilled poker player with over $620K in live tournament wins, joined Barstool in 2020.<\/p>\n

After his firing, he tweeted that he was \u201cin good spirits\u201d and that he is \u201cdef an idiot, but I am also a resilient one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Quick Update<\/p>\n

I am in good spirits. I am def an idiot but I am also a resilient one. Will have a long video tomorrow thanking everyone. Way way too grateful to be too down.<\/p>\n

— Mintzy (@BarstoolMintzy) May 3, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n