By now you've seen it. Ben Mintz gets on a treadmill, something happens, tens of millions of people watch it. That's the whole Mintzy content model in one sentence. But the fallout this week has been less "viral moment" and more "workplace incident report" — the Danny and Mintzy rivalry spilled into open-office territory, a group got officially christened the Shrinkage Boys, and now the people who actually work alongside Mintzy every day can't agree on whether he's a genius or a liability.
Someone in a green hoodie at Barstool HQ delivering the full 'you won't be here during work hours' callout and officially labeling the opposition the Shrinkage Boys.
Mintzy was not going to let that land without a response. He found his way to the green chair at HQ — BODYARMOR in reach, gold trophy in the background — and went full Wire. You come at the king, you best not miss. Settle in, Shrinkage Boys.
Mintzy delivering the Omar Little quote from the green chair at Barstool HQ, on camera, no hedging.
That's where Tate stepped in. A full defense video dropped Friday, and by Saturday the Chicago office was airing the debate out loud. Tate's argument is airtight if you accept the premise: there is exactly 1 person on the entire planet who can get on a treadmill and rack up tens of millions of views. So don't go to the circus and get mad when the clowns show up. Chief pushed back with the counterpoint that will not go away — okay, but you still have a tiger in the cage. You can't just let it go around mauling people. Both of them are right. That's why this is a real argument.
Tate and Chief going back and forth inside the Barstool Chicago office — the circus line, the tiger line, all of it on camera.
And just when the accountability debate felt like it had hit every angle, Frank The Tank surfaced with a statement that reopens everything: "I really thought I had it on the lowest setting." Five words that explain nothing and implicate everything. Whether Frank is talking about the treadmill speed, the intensity of his involvement, or something else entirely is not clear — and honestly, that ambiguity is doing a lot of work. Lowest setting, Frank. The clip is already being attached to his name indefinitely. The Mintzy saga keeps finding new characters to pull in, and right now the Chicago office has no consensus, Mintzy has a Wire quote on his lips, and Frank The Tank is pleading ignorance from the control panel.