Barstool Sports founder — and diehard New England Patriots fan — Dave Portnoy gave a bizarre explanation for why Stefon Diggs deserves the benefit of the doubt after he was accused of strangling his private chef.
“I gotta remind a couple people before we get into this. First of all, in this great country of ours, America, it’s innocent until proven guilty,” Portnoy, 48, said in a video posted to his Instagram Story on Tuesday, December 30. “And what team won the first Super Bowl after 9/11 that brought this country together and stood up for everything great about this country? The Patriots. So I believe in the rules of this country.”
The Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI in February 2002.
Throughout the franchise’s history, Portnoy argued “no team has taken the higher road, had better moral integrity, than the New England Patriots.”
“We don’t care wins, losses. We look for good people. Good humans,” he added.
Diggs, 32, is accused of attacking his live-in personal chef at his home on December 2 over a financial dispute.
“I have a personal chef. I just hired one,” Portnoy said. “A lot of you people out there probably don’t have personal chefs. You don’t know the intricacies of working with a personal chef.”
Portnoy continued, “I find it peculiar a personal chef can have all these back wages owed and still be cooking. If you’re owed all this money and the guy is not paying, you stop cooking, or you’re on a salary and the money is getting paid. So how do you have so many back wages that suddenly you’re getting choked out?”
Diggs allegedly told the woman that her services would not be needed during the week of November 7, according to a police report obtained by Boston 25 News. The woman claimed Diggs also forced her to leave his home for the week because he was “having house guests.”
The woman argued that Diggs was still obligated to pay her because she did not request the time off.
“She said that this is the standard in this type of work arrangement,” the report added.
After the alleged assault, the woman left Diggs’ home to stay with a friend, returning on December 9 to collect her property.
“At that point, she texted with Diggs who told her to take up the monetary sum with his assistant,” the report said. “She spoke to ‘Melissa’ from Finance, who explained that Diggs had requested a signed non-disclosure agreement from [the woman] before she could be paid. [The woman] did not sign any such document.”
Diggs was charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery, it was reported on Tuesday, December 30.
“Stefon Diggs categorically denies these allegations,” Diggs’ attorney David Meier said in a statement to Us Weekly on Tuesday. “They are unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, and were never investigated — because they did not occur. The timing and motivation for making the allegations is crystal clear: they are the direct result of an employee-employer financial dispute that was not resolved to the employee’s satisfaction. Stefon looks forward to establishing the truth in a court of law.”
The Patriots also issued a statement about the allegations on Tuesday, pledging Diggs their “support.”
“We will continue to gather information and will cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities and the NFL as necessary. Out of respect for all parties involved, and given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time.”
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