The Barstool NYC office has been a hot topic lately, with Rone publicly airing fears about its future and Dave Portnoy himself weighing in on where the office stands going forward. So when Francis got caught on camera talking to Pat about the buzz, people paid attention, especially because Francis wasn't exactly defending the place.
Francis, mid-conversation with Pat, says flat out he wants the New York office shut down.
"Personally I want the New York office to shut down" is not a subtle take to drop while cameras are rolling in the middle of the office in question. It's the kind of line that turns into a soundbite fast, and it did. Francis has never been shy about stirring things up, but saying it directly to Pat, on the record, with the cubicles and the framed jersey in the background, is a different level of blunt.
Naturally, the internet's response wasn't to debate office real estate. It pivoted straight to clowning Francis over his side gig as a ghostwriter. Francis reportedly worked behind the scenes on one of Portnoy's books that landed on the New York Times bestseller list, but ghostwriters don't get their name on the cover, and that's exactly the gap people are needling him about.
The jab lands here: Francis "wouldn't know what it's like" to actually be a credited New York Times Best Seller.
That's a low blow dressed up as a compliment, poking at the difference between writing the book and getting your name on it. It's not really about the writing at all, it's just an easy way to needle a guy who just publicly torched his own office.
Gaz piled on with the same bit, sarcastically giving Francis "credit" for the bestseller status in the same breath as crediting him for selling out the Boston Garden with Shane Gillis, a claim nobody's taking seriously either.
Personally I give Francis credit for being a New York Times best seller just like I give him credit for selling out the Boston Garden with Shane Gillis
None of this settles the actual NYC office question, that's still very much a live storyline given Portnoy's own recent comments on its future. But Francis picking this moment to publicly call for the office to close, and getting immediately dragged for his bestseller cred instead of his opinion, is peak Barstool: the real debate gets buried under the roast. Watch for whether Pat or Portnoy respond directly, because right now Francis is taking incoming from every direction and hasn't said a word back.