Add this spicy new chapter to the Burn Book.
After Dave Portnoy revealed that he did not renew the contracts for Alex Bennett and Jordyn Woodruff, who host the “Mean Girls” podcast, he claimed on Tuesday’s installment of the “Barstool Rundown” that the pair were pushed out of the company by fellow on-air talent, Kelly Keegs.
Portnoy, who appeared on the show with Keegs, Kevin Clancy (known as KFC) and Tommy Smokes, said Keegs “murdered the ‘Mean Girls,'” with her blog in March when she declared: “I Officially Hate the Mean Girls.'”
The blog post was Keegs’ way of explaining that although she liked Alex and Jordyn “in real life,” she believed they put on a persona that made females at Barstool look stupid — however, they were getting clicks, so their behavior was encouraged and praised at the company.
“I said [in the blog] I didn’t like how we were raising up people that were putting out dumb clips on purpose and then that was setting the standard for clicks… when there are plenty of other girls here who are saying smart things and we’re getting enough traction online,” Keegs said.
Portnoy claimed the “Mean Girl” podcast saw its views go down after Keegs’ blog came out.
Keegs said she tried to work things out with Bennett and Woodruff privately, but they refused to talk with her
“I think that’s unfair that two women are being labeled [morons],” Portnoy said. “You’re singling out one clip when we have so much stuff, and a lot of it is pretty moronic.
“[At one point, the show] was growing. They had a very quick rise. What was a little different, or at least seemingly from the outside is once Keegs killed them it really went down, so it looked like the Barstool audience was largely their audience. They weren’t getting outside us necessarily.
“Oh, Keegs murdered it,” Portnoy said of the “Mean Girl” podcast, adding, “She ruined it.
“You’ll never have to deal with them again so congratulations.”
Keegs said, “I didn’t ‘feel bad going at them, because I thought they had the s–t to back it up.”
Clancy chimed in and said “the craziest twist” happened when he saw Woodruff working in his studio after the news broke of the “Mean Girls” podcast getting dropped by Barstool.
“The one day you get let go, you’re working,” he said, laughing.
Keegs then switched her tune and said she felt bad about the situation.
“I’m uncomfortable with the situation, you know, I feel bad,” she said. “I killed them for sure but I also wish that they talked to me.
“They refuse to talk to me. I texted them, I tried to talk to them in person. I briefly talked to the Alex.”
“If they wanted to stay, they would stay,” she said, to which Portnoy replied: “You made her life miserable, she didn’t want to come in.”
Keegs claimed she told the Bennett and Woodruff that the whole situation was “blown out of proportion,” and asked them to talk outside of Barstool, off-camera, but they refused.
Portnoy then joked that Keegs had a “kill list.”
“Keegs killed them,” he said. “They did not want to be in the office. I was already doing the rounds [asking who was in the office]… and that’s when I was told about [them blowing off the Barstool OnlyFans Pageant].
“I think that was indicative that they had made their mind up [about staying at Barstool Sports]. I think if I was like, you guys can do your own s–t and not come in the office, they would’ve been like ‘OK, good.'”
Portnoy explained that Bennett and Woodruff were doing much better when they were working in the office.
“And then Keegs made it impossible for them to come in the office,” he said. “You killed a potentially very successful franchise.”
Earlier Tuesday, Portnoy explained on “Barstool Radio” that he made the decision not to renew Bennett and Woodruff’s contracts after they did not answer Clancy when asked if they would judge the Barstool OnlyFans Pageant.
The podcast pair said they are still on good terms with Portnoy and Barstool CEO Erika Ayers Badan in a farewell video posted to the “Mean Girl” Instagram account on Tuesday.
“The ‘Mean Girl’ pod is here to stay and exciting things are coming soon so stay tuned,” Woodruff said in the video.
