Dave Portnoy went scorched earth on a USA Today columnist who invoked the lynching of Emmett Till in a column about WNBA star Caitlin Clark, calling the comparison “pure insanity” and demanding heads roll at the newspaper.
The Barstool Sports founder said Friday that firing columnist Nancy Armour would not go nearly far enough.
“We’ve got to put her in a straightjacket. You’ve got to find the nearest institution. You’ve gotta put this author away and throw away the key,” Portnoy said on Fox Business’ “Varney & Co.”
“Firing isn’t really far enough. You gotta put her in an insane asylum. You gotta lock her up. And people who say, ‘Hey, Dave, that’s too far’ — that’s nothing compared to what she just wrote,” he added.
Armour’s column argued that some Clark supporters view the Indiana Fever star as a White woman who needs protection, then direct their anger toward other WNBA players. She claimed there was a “White nationalist element” surrounding the controversy over Clark’s treatment by opponents and referees.
Armour then invoked America’s history of Black people being harmed “in the name of ‘defending’ white women” before noting that the WNBA All-Star Game was being held in Chicago, where Till lived.
Till was 14 when he was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after a White woman accused him of making advances. His murder became a catalyst for the civil rights movement.
Portnoy said tying that atrocity to arguments about basketball officiating crossed every imaginable line.
“I’ve been doing Barstool 24 years. I’m 49 years old. That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. “The absolute craziest thing. To somehow equate the civil rights movement and Caitlin Clark arguing whether she got fouled or not. It is pure insanity.”
Portnoy demanded that USA Today fire both Armour and the editors who approved the column.
“I do think she should be fired. I think the editor who allowed this to be published should be fired,” he said.
Portnoy also accused Armour of forcing race into a sports controversy where it did not belong.
“If you go looking for race under every single blank, every cover, you can make anything about race,” he said.
Armour apologized Thursday for what she called an “inartful comparison,” saying she had not provided enough context for the connection to Till.
Portnoy originally shared a clip of the article, calling it the “dumbest paragraph” in the history of sports.
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 Congrats to USA Today’s Nancy Armour! She has written the dumbest paragraph not only of my lifetime but in the history of sports. This is an article that says @CaitlinClark22 arguing calls has become dangerous for the @wnba and civil rights. Nancy Armour… pic.twitter.com/4nWGZf0gin
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 23, 2026
More over at Fox Business:
Dave Portnoy says USA Today writer belongs in 'insane asylum' over Caitlin Clark-Emmett Till comparison https://t.co/SHetZAEaJP
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) July 24, 2026
