Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is done getting criticized for being a fake Swiftie. He recently defended his status as a genuine Taylor Swift fan with a handwritten letter from the singer. Portnoy, who has been vocal about his love for Swift, flaunted the receipt that proved his affections weren’t one-sided. The singer thanked him for attending her Eras Tour in Miami, a gesture he used to clapback at critics.
In an Instagram video, he recalled how the “fake fan” allegations ruined his time at the concert, saying, “I should be on cloud 9, but this girl kinda went viral recently trashing me. And being like, ‘I’m a fake Swifty. Swifty should hate this guy. More importantly, like, Taylor’s camp hates Dave.'”
“‘They’ve never talked to him, reached out. They said I’ve never been to a concert.’ Not true. This is my second one on the Eras Tour. But it should have been a night of celebration,” Portnoy lamented. His video cut to the TikTok user’s allegations of him being a “performative Swifty.” The critic claimed Swift’s team avoided him because they knew he wanted to use her fame for his podcast. Portnoy claimed:
“I did get in the VIP section, which was amazing. And, you know, I want to come on and talk about this letter that Austin Swift, her brother, hand-delivered to me in the VIP section from Taylor.”
Inside Taylor Swift’s Handwritten Letter to Dave Portnoy
The letter entitled “Dave” was sealed with Swift’s personalized wax seal and filled with her love for Portnoy. It read, “I’m so happy to have you at the show tonight. I wanna say thank you for always being so supportive, so loyal, and for having my back when a lot of people didn’t.”
“I hope you have a blast tonight. Love, Taylor Hart,” the letter concluded. Portnoy noted that his friendship with Swift extended to her family, including her mother and brother. He claimed there was a moment when he shared a “real hug, like almost teary” with the matriarch.
The Barstool Sports founder’s words come at the heels of Swift’s Eras announcement. ELLE reported that she hand-picked the final five cities in the concluding leg of her tour for a particular reason. During her Miami concert, the singer told the crowd:
“We decided, if we’re going to end this tour, eventually it has to happen. We gotta pick the crowds and the cities and the places where the crowds are going to be passionate, enthusiastic, screaming the words to every single song, like the most fun crowds imaginable.”
“So, there was only one conclusion for how to kick off this last leg, and that is Miami, Florida!” the singer declared. Following her Miami stop, Taylor Swift will head to New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Canada to end her Eras tour.
