A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday dismissed Barstool founder David Portnoy’s defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit against Insider over two exposés that portrayed him as a sexual predator. In addition to the publication, the suit named its co-founder and CEO Henry Blodget, global editor-in-chief Nicholas Carlson and writers Julia Black and Melkorka Licea. Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV reasoned that Portnoy came up short in making the case that the defendants published the articles with actual malice.
The stories, published on Nov. 4, 2021 and Feb. 2, 2022, described Portnoy as preying on young women, recording them without consent and possibly assaulting them.
