ESPN Host Sam Ponder Slams Barstool Sports Over ‘Horrific Personal Attacks’ on Women

“Where do we draw a line, what are our standards?” sportscaster asks as blog joins network’s ranks

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Sam Ponder isn’t exactly rolling out the welcome wagon to her new colleagues from Barstool Sports.

ESPN’s “Morning Countdown” host Ponder lashed out at Barstool on Monday, as ESPN2 prepared to launch its late-night offering “Barstool Van Talk.”

In a tweet published Monday, Ponder issued a sarcasm-laced welcome to “Barstool Van Talk” personalities Dan “Big Cat” Katz.

“Welcome to the ESPN family @BarstoolBigCat (& welcome to all ur minions who will respond to this so kindly),” Ponder tweeted, along with a screen shot of comments she appeared to attribute to Katz.

“Seriously you sound like a KO Barstool freak, not a chick that has a job where the #1 requirement is you make men hard. So give it a rest with your righteous indignation. Your entire career and livelihood is based on appealing to guys like me and blogs like ours,” the screen shot read. “Bottomline is guys thinking chicks are hot is natural. It’s Darwinism. It’s never gonna change. But that doesn’t mean we don’t respect women and think it’s okay to hit a woman. I have no idea what’s so confusing about that. Go f–k yourself.”

Katz replied with a clarification that the comments were not his, adding that he has defended Ponder.

“Hey Sam, thanks for the welcome. I just want to clear one thing up, I didn’t write this blog post (you make it seem like I did) and the rundown you reference I actually defended you,” Katz wrote.

After which, Ponder pivoted to take aim at Barstool Sports boss Dave Portnoy.

“I was wrong in thinking @BarstoolBigCat wrote that article & called me a slut repeatedly. He just continuously laughed along,” Ponder tweeted Tuesday. “It was the PRESIDENT of @barstoolsports who said these things. Happy to clarify.”

On Wednesday, Portnoy continued to reflect on the topic, posting a series of tweets that read in part, “I am disappointed that we are promoting a company name that still maintains support for horrific personal attacks against multiple women within ESPN.”

“I am speaking up not to say ‘I am perfect, be like me’ but rather ‘where do we draw a line, what are our standards?’” Ponder added. “I don’t meet my own standards sometimes. This does not mean we throw the standard away. This means we get better. We speak up. We listen. We get better.”

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