Throwing yet another twist into the ongoing situation stemming from a “F*** the Jews” sign that was spotted at Barstool Sansom Street, a sports bar in Center City Philadelphia, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced that one of the patrons who initially took responsibility for the incident had backtracked.
Taking to X to deliver the follow up, Portnoy said that Mo Kahn — one of the two people he spoke to who had said on Sunday that they were behind the sign — had taken to social media to write a lengthy post disavowing any and all connection to it. Instead, he said that he had simply shared video of something that happened at the bar while he was there.
“Quick update. Mo Kahn is no longer taking any responsibility or involvement for the ‘F*** the Jews’ sign at Barstool Samson. [He] is basically lawyering up and blaming it all on his friend now and is saying he was just a citizen journalist. It is a 180 from my convo with him yesterday. Needless to say his trip to Poland has been revoked,” Portnoy said in his caption.
WATCH:
Quick update. Mo Kahn is no longer taking any responsibility or involvement for the “Fuck the Jews” sign at Barstool Samson. His is basically lawyering up and blaming it all on his friend now and is saying he was just a citizen journalist. It is a 180 from my convo with him… pic.twitter.com/LGW4sVUhbz
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 5, 2025
Portnoy shared a screenshot of Kahn’s post, showing where he told his followers that he had not been the one who “paid for or requested that sign,” and said that his only mistake had been making “the poor decision to record and upload it.” He then apologized for anyone whose feelings had been hurt by his post, adding, “I hope honest and open dialogue can come out of this incident so we can address the deeper realities of the world we live in.”
The Barstool Sports founder, who had previously spoken to Kahn and one other patron (whose name he did not reveal), said on Sunday that both had taken responsibility for the sign and had subsequently agreed to take a trip to Auschwitz and try to learn something from the experience.
Upon seeing Kahn’s post, Portnoy called to speak with him again, but this time, he said the conversation was very different. Kahn recorded the call and had his parents with him, and insisted that he’d had nothing to do with the sign — rather, he said that he’d felt pressured to take responsibility for it when they spoke the first time.
Portnoy said that Kahn, a 21-year-old Temple University student who has since been suspended, attempted to distance himself from the situation, saying that he would “never” do anything like that — but then Portnoy came across an old social media post of Kahn’s that included an anti-Semitic joke from six months earlier.
“I’m like, ‘How do you explain that one if you’re not ever doing anything like that?'” Portnoy continued. “He’s like, ‘Well, I really won’t be able to explain that, maybe my parents can explain that.’ Your parents can explain the ‘how you find a Jew, you throw a quarter on the floor’ joke? Not like — I mean, whatever, I’ve got thick skin. But this kid couldn’t even — he wouldn’t even admit he did it. He’s like, ‘That’s on a social media channel, like, I deleted, I don’t even have that anymore.'”
“Buddy, what are you doing?” Portnoy asked then, saying that he’d hoped to be able to turn a bad decision into a teachable moment, but that Kahn’s 180-degree turn had made him change his mind. “Maybe if you actually learn a life lesson, maybe if people watch you go to Poland and seem like you’re changed, this gets behind you.”
Portnoy concluded by saying that he’d rescinded his offer to send Kahn to Poland, arguing that if he wasn’t willing to take responsibility for his actions, he was not ready to learn the kind of lesson that would help him behave differently in the future.
