Dave Portnoy has once again provided Ben Mintz with gainful employment, but the twist is that Mintz is not returning to Barstool Sports after getting fired earlier this month for rapping a racial slur on a live stream.
Instead, Portnoy hired Mintz as a pitchman for Brick Watch, the watch company that Portnoy launched outside of Barstool last year.
Sharing a video on his 40th birthday, Mintz announced the news on Twitter Wednesday morning.
“I am being rehired by Dave Portnoy as the first employee for Brick Watch, and I cannot be more happy about it,” Mintz said.
“This month has been so hard on me. Obviously I made an unforgivable — but stupid and honest — mistake at the beginning of the month. It cost me so dearly. It cost me my job at Barstool Sports. I had to pay a hell of a price.”
Mintz said that he appreciated the support of Portnoy, Dan Katz and Barstool CEO Erika Nardini, who advocated against his firing to parent company Penn Entertainment.
He added that he kept an “upbeat” face over the past several weeks, but was torn up inside over seeing himself online constantly associated with saying a racial slur.
Mintz also said that it “means the world to me” that Portnoy rehired him.
The announcement was filmed in front of the New Orleans Saints’ “rebirth” statue, featuring Steve Gleason’s famous blocked punt for the team in the reopening of the SuperDome in 2006, the year after Hurricane Katrina.
Portnoy responded to the video by tweeting, “Now that is my watch salesman! And it fits like a glove! I will not mention I sent the watches almost 2 weeks ago and he still didn’t get them sized! I don’t care! Bring the watches to the people Mintzy!”
Brick watches retail for $2,399.
Penn Entertainment finalized its acquisition of Barstool earlier this year, for a total of $551 million, and made the decision on Mintz’s firing based on concerns that the racial slur could be used against Barstool by state gambling regulatory bodies.
Mintz was rapping along to the song “1st of Tha Month” by Bone Thugz-N-Harmony on May 1 when he said the n-word, and immediately realized his mistake.
“This morning, I made an unforgivable mistake slipping on air while reading a song lyric,” Mintz tweeted soon after the show.
“I meant no harm & have never felt worse about anything. I apologize for my actions. I am truly sorry & ashamed of myself.”
Portnoy spoke out against Mintz’s firing.
“I hate the decision. I disagree with the decision. I would not have made the decision. But I don’t deal with the things Penn deals with in terms of state regulators etc,” the Barstool founder told The Post in a direct message at the time.
“Penn paid a lot of money for Barstool and they have to make the best decisions to protect their business. I trust and respect [Penn CEO] Jay [Snowden] that he makes what he thinks is the right move and that’s all you can ask for. Doesn’t mean I’ll always agree but again he deals with things I don’t have to think or deal with.”
Portnoy said recently on “The Kirk Minihane Show” that his contract with Barstool and Penn expires in 20 months, and that he is not sure what the thoughts are at the parent company in terms of whether they will partner on a new deal.
