A report has found the average Russian conscript survived just four and half months at the front line – with one in five dying within just two months.

Last year Vladimir Putin signed a decree to initiate a ‘partial military mobilisation’, drafting some 300,000 Russian citizens and shipping them off to fight in Ukraine to bolster his crumbling military force. 

Unsurprisingly, conscripts began reporting horror stories from the front line within a matter of weeks, with freshly drafted units facing systemic issues that led to an eye-watering attrition rate. 

New arrivals were sent charging into battle with shoddy equipment and limited ammunition by reckless commanders and were subsequently torn up by better trained and equipped Ukrainian defenders. 

Those who managed to survive beyond their initial deployment found the promises of leave never materialised, and instead faced the prospect of near-certain death on the front line, or being tortured or killed for desertion. 

Now, a research paper authored by Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) and Russian independent outlet Important Stories, has revealed the harrowing impact of the war on Russian conscripts.

Analysing death rates, in areas where the fighting was most intense, the period between mobilisation and death on the frontlines was measured in days, not weeks.

CIT analysts pointed to autumn 2022 and spring 2023 – characterised by intense fighting in and around Bakhmut in Donetsk and Svatove-Kreminna in Luhansk – as the bloodiest time of the conflict in which conscripts were killed at an incredible rate.

‘The most intense periods in terms of losses are the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023, they contribute significantly to the average life expectancy of those mobilised at the front,’ CIT explains.

‘Some already fell into a meat grinder in the area of ​​​​Svatove and Kreminna in the autumn, where [the Russian military leadership] urgently needed to close the breakthrough [of the Ukrainian Armed Forces]. 

‘At the beginning, [mobilised troops] filled holes in order to urgently prevent the collapse of the front, to saturate it with manpower. 

‘The record from military summons to grave is just a few days.’ 

The age range of conscripts killed in action further illustrates the toll mobilisation took on Russian society – particularly in poorer minority regions where the number of call ups was disproportionately high.

One victim named Anton Getman, from Russia’s southern Rostov region close to the Ukrainian border, was killed in November 2022 just weeks into his mobilisation aged just 19. 

One in ten conscripts killed in Ukraine were aged under 25, according to the report.  

Meanwhile, Nikolai Isakov, a former major who was recalled to fight after war broke out, was killed eight months after being mobilised aged 62.

CIT analysts went on to explain how the Russian army’s unstructured combat system contributes to such high attrition rates and reduces the effectiveness of those who do survive.

‘At the very beginning they were told: ”You will serve for six months and go home, no one will send you to the front line” – and they thought: ”Now we’ll quickly go, get medals, money and come back.”

‘Now many conscripts complain that they have been serving for 11 months and have never been home. 

‘Once mobilisation begins, they can no longer refuse to participate [in the war] with impunity, and we are seeing a growing level of criminal prosecution for unauthorised abandonment of a unit. 

‘Why aren’t they sent on vacation? Because [commanders] are afraid that if you send 100 people on vacation, only half will return.’ 

The report comes as Ukrainian forces mounted coordinated assaults on several villages in the eastern Donetsk region and began heavily shelling the city of Bakhmut, a Russian-installed official in the region said Friday.

The industrial territory has suffered the brunt of fighting since Russia’s offensive and the battle for Bakhmut is the longest and one of the bloodiest of the conflict.

‘Over the past 24 hours in the Krasnolimansk direction, the enemy took a number of actions and conducted combat reconnaissance in several directions at once,’ Denis Pushilin said on social media.

He listed several villages in the north of Donetsk near the city of Lyman, which is under Ukrainian control, and claimed the assaults were suppressed by Russian forces.

Bakhmut was captured by Russian forces in May after months of brutal fighting but Ukrainian forces immediately began pushing back around its flanks and have recaptured several destroyed villages.

‘The situation in [Bakhmut] remains hot, [the city] itself is under chaotic shelling,’ Pushilin said in the video statement on social media.

Pushilin also said Ukrainian forces are massing assault battalions north of the town that once had an estimated population of 70,000 people.

Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive against heavily entrenched Russian positions in June but progress has been slow.

A fuming traveller claims £1,000 ($1,200) worth of items went missing after an airline ‘lost’ her luggage for two months – despite her AirTag tracker revealing that it was at the airport.

Sarah Waite, 25, travelled from Los Angeles to Athens, with a layover in Paris.

But when she landed in the Greek capital, she discovered her suitcase had not made it on to the plane and would arrive later.

A week later, Sarah, who is originally from Los Angeles, received a notification from her AirTag, a tracking device by Apple, saying her bag had left Paris and was finally in Athens.

When she went to pick it up, she claims Air France staff told her they didn’t have it despite the AirTag showing its location at the airport.

The registered nurse spent two months without her luggage after the flight on May 14.

And when she was finally able to retrieve it, Sarah claims her suitcase had been damaged and £1,000 ($1,200) worth of items were missing, including shoes and makeup.

Sarah described the whole experience as ‘horrible and traumatising’.

It was the trip of a lifetime for Sarah, who travelled to Athens to pursue her dream of learning modern and ancient Greek literature.

So her dream trip wasn’t off to a good start when she landed in Athens with no luggage. 

She said: ‘I went to claim my luggage and almost all of the passengers were informed that it was arriving later.

‘We all had to make a claim at the Air France desk at 2am local time.

‘There were probably about 60 people that stayed to file the claim, me being one of them.’

In the hope of speeding things up, Sarah filed a claim online while waiting in the physical queue.

At 5am in the morning, three hours after landing, she finally left Athens International Airport – without her luggage.

Sarah had an AirTag inside her suitcase so she could see that the item was in Paris, where she’d had her layover.

She said: ‘Luckily I had an AirTag inside my luggage so I could see that Air France was not lying and it really was still in the Paris airport.’

Sarah kept in touch with airline staff over the next few days but found the communication difficult.

She said ‘I kept in contact with Air France about my claim and they were not communicative at all, leaving me on hold for long periods, not connecting me with someone who spoke English.’

A week later, on May 20, Sarah’s AirTag sent her a notification revealing that her luggage had left Paris Charles de Gaulle and was finally in Athens.

She decided to make her way to the airport but when she arrived, she was unable to reclaim her belongings.

Sarah said: ‘I went to the help desk and then finally to the lost and found with lots of effort and back-and-forth argumentation about my claim number.

‘It was not there and there was nothing I could do, even though my AirTag said it was there.’

As she found herself without her suitcase, Sarah, who suffers from Graves’ disease, had to buy a number of items including her thyroid medications.

The condition is an autoimmune disorder that can cause hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid.

She said: ‘I lost hope but I continued my communication with the airline every day, sending them receipts of the items I had to purchase.’

Two months later, on July 20, Sarah was still able to track her AirTag, so she made a final attempt and travelled to the airport again.

When she arrived, Sarah went to the airline desk and confronted the staff. 

She said ‘The people helping me were very rude, yelling at me when I expressed frustration, telling me there is nothing they can do even though they work at the airport and can take me to the AirTag location.

‘They even threatened to call the police on me because I started video recording the situation.’

A video shows the interaction between herself and the staff, where an argument breaks out.

According to Sarah, the staff eventually agreed to take her to the lost and found where she was finally able to retrieve her luggage.

When she was reunited with her suitcase, Sarah claimed that it was clear it had been damaged and items lost.

She explained: ‘I got my bag, but again with extreme frustration.

‘I went to the help desk and got permission to access the lost and found.

‘I went to the lost and found and then the other lost and found but my bag was not there.

‘I finally broke down and cried in front of the entire staff and that is when someone said, “Oh we called you, okay stay here.”‘

She added: ‘It took extreme emotional expression to get the people to understand who I was and that I was contacted, even though I was telling everyone who helped me out that my name is Sarah Waite and I was called because my bags were found.

‘A young man took me to the customs area where my AirTag was tagged and I got my bag.

‘My luggage was completely ripped open, shoes were gone, makeup gone, bags were missing and the original lock on the zippers is not on it.

‘I am devastated still, but at least my medication, which is in a liquid form, if you have Graves’ disease then you know, is viable.’

Sarah documented her lost-luggage frustrations on TikTok, revealing on one clip that she received $600 (£485) in compensation.

Air France has yet to respond to requests for comment. 

Al Pacino‘s ex-girlfriend Noor Alfallah have split, and she has filed for custody of her three-month-old son with the actor, Roman Alfallah Pacino.

Alfallah, 29, filed legal docs in Los Angeles asking for full physical custody of the infant, adding that she wants the 83-year-old actor to have ‘reasonable visitation,’ The Blast reported after reviewing legal docs. 

Pacino and Alfallah had been romantically linked since April 2022, and welcomed their son June 6 at Cedar’s Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. 

According to the outlet, Alfallah told the court she was willing to grant the veteran film star joint legal custody of their young son, which would give him a say on matters related to education, religion, medical treatment and more. 

The Scarface leading man is already father to three children with two women: he shares 22-year-old twins Olivia Pacino and Anton James Pacino with Beverly D’Angelo; and Julie Pacino, 33, with Jan Tarrant. 

In her legal filing, Alfallah inserted a document titled ‘voluntary declaration of parentage,’ which both she and Pacino signed six days after they welcomed their son.

The document, which a third-party witness signed, acknowledged Pacino’s paternity of the child.

Alfallah in legal docs said she conceived the child in California after engaging in ‘sexual intercourse’ with the actor. 

Alfallah is requesting in court docs that Pacino pay for her lawyer fees or any other case-related costs, according to the outlet. 

A specific amount of child support was not stated in the court filing, according to the outlet.

According to The Blast, legal docs in the case stated that ‘the court may make orders for support of the children and issue an earnings assignment without further notice to either party.’

It was expected that the judge in the case would state an amount based off what Alfallah asks for in forthcoming hearings; there was no evidence to indicate that Pacino was opposed to any of the requests, the outlet reported. 

Alfallah and Pacino’s OB-GYN is Beverly Hills-based Thais Aliabadi, who delivered Khloe Kardashian’s child on Keeping Up With The Kardashians. 

Alfallah was previously in romances with Rolling Stones icon Mick Jagger and billionaire Nicolas Berggruen. 

She was seen out with Tinseltown icon Clint Eastwood, 93, in 2019, but said they were just family friends. The year before, she was seen out with Inglourious Basterds actor Eli Roth, 51.

Alfallah’s age gap with Pacino ‘doesn’t seem to be a problem,’ a source told Page Six in April of 2022, adding that the Kuwaiti-American film producer ‘mostly dates very rich older men’ and ‘moves with the wealthy jet-set crowd, and she comes from a family with money.’ 

Alfallah is a native of Beverly Hills and attended the UCLA School of Film and Television, later pursuing a career as a producer. 

Prior to the child’s birth in June, mystery surrounded the circumstances of the pregnancy after claims emerged the actor had demanded a pre-natal DNA test after refusing to believe he could ‘impregnate anybody’, only found out about the impending arrival in April and believed the relationship with Noor was ‘long over.’

This came after a source close to the couple confirmed to DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Pacino ‘could not be happier’ about the pregnancy, that he had not been kept in the dark about the baby for 11 weeks and that the pair were ‘very much in love.’ 

The source also pushed back at suggestions Alfallah is a ‘gold digger,’ and said she had wanted a baby for years. 

Around the timeframe, TMZ reported that Pacino initially doubted the child was his,  due to medical issues that would ‘commonly prevent a man from impregnating a woman.’

Insiders told the outlet that Pacino only found out about the pregnancy when Alfallah was six months in, and was ‘shocked’ at the revelation. Alfallah agreed to the DNA test, which confirmed Pacino was indeed the father.

Pacino and Alfallah’s relationship came under further scrutiny when it was alleged the actor thought the relationship was over a ‘long time ago’.

Sources claimed to Showbiz411 months back that Pacino was ‘hoodwinked’ by Noor and added: ‘She knew Al didn’t didn’t want to have more kids, they have no relationship, it’s a mess.’

Alfallah did not tell Pacino about the pregnancy for the first 11 weeks, sources told the outlet.

Alfallah is said to have grown closer to Pacino after becoming good friends with his daughter Olivia, whose mother is actress Beverly D’Angelo – who opened up about her longtime relationship with Pacino in an Instagram post in May. 

The 71-year-old actress said she decided to share details about her relationship with Pacino after her ‘dm box got filled up with questions’ on the topic.

‘My story with Al began 27 years ago, two artists meeting, falling in love,’ said D’Angelo. 

The actress, who played Ellen Griswold in the National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise, said that they ‘lived together for seven years, had two children’ and eventually ‘broke up.’

Despite their split, she wrote, they ‘continued steadily on [their] journey as co parents- and came to share [their] lives with a deeper kind of intimacy, honesty and acceptance than a “traditional” relationship would have allowed.’

D’Angelo said that she and Pacino bonded through their mutual passion of their craft.

‘We’ve always been linked on the creative level – our conversations about acting, the search/need for expression – that’s a conversation that started in 96 and continues to this day,’ she said.

D’Angelo, who has been seen on the CBS series True Lies, called her relationship with the Dog Day Afternoon actor ‘unique’ and ‘encompassing a wide breadth/depth of experiences and emotions, through thick and thin, a true friendship.’

She added, ‘There are infinite layers in every intimate relationship – and for me, Instagram isn’t the place to go into detail really….. but I wanna make sure you know I see and hear you, so this vid is a little bare bones primer in response to your questions.’

She added that most importantly she received the approval of her children before posting their images and story to social media.

D’Angelo opened up in the clip about her start with the House of Gucci actor, saying, ‘I lived with Al for seven years and we have two children; in 1996, we were on the same plane going from Los Angeles to New York.

‘He was seated in front of me, he said come up and sit beside me and by the time the plane landed, it was on.’

She said that the following year, ‘He looked me in the eye and said, “I want you to be the mother of my children.”‘

She continued, ‘Although I’d avoided that role my while life, I was deeply in love and I was 100 percent in.’

She said that they completed a round of in vitro fertilization in 1997, and ‘with a lot of effort and the miracles of modern science,’ they welcomed their twins in 2001.

D’Angelo shared a slideshow of family shots of the twins in their younger years.

She said that eventually, things ‘got complicated’ and their ‘split was finalized in 2004.’

She added, ‘The power of our love for our children was the basis for resolving any conflicts and creating a new history as co-parents, leading individual lives separately but always intertwined as a family.’

She wrapped up in saying that she and the Any Given Sunday star continue to share ‘a unique and profound friendship between two artists that endures to this day – through thick and thin, 27 years now of doing it our way – and there you have it.’

• Tired parents typically miss out on four and a half hours of sleep each night 

By Katherine Lawton

Updated: 20:08 EDT, 4 September 2023

President Joe Biden fluffed his lines on Friday as he delivered a speech on an improving jobs market, accidentally saying that unemployment had been below 14 percent for more than a year.

In fact, he meant that it had been below four percent.

The 80-year-old made his blunder in the Rose Garden, during a speech to mark how his policies had helped Americans get back to work after pandemic lockdowns. 

‘When I took office, the unemployment rate was 6.3 percent,’ he said, wearing Aviator sunglasses against the September sunshine. 

‘The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that it would not get below four percent until the end of 2025. 

‘Now, the unemployment rate has been below 14% for the last 19 months, the longest stretch in over 50 years. We recovered all the jobs lost during the pandemic.’

And the economy has added a million new jobs, he said. 

He spoke soon after publication of the July jobs report. It concluded that the national unemployment rate had ticked up slightly to 3.8 percent as some of the heat left the jobs market.

Biden said it came off the back of a period of historic job growth.

‘It wasn’t that long ago that America was losing jobs,’ he said. ‘In fact, my predecessor was one of only two presidents in history, who entered his presidency and left with fewer jobs than when he entered.

‘Look at where we are right now. Just this morning, we learned that the economy created 190,000 jobs last month. All told we’ve added 13.5 million jobs since I took office.’

That may be true. But President Donald Trump’s time in office started with jobs growth and ended with massive economic shutdown, sending people home as COVID-19 gripped the country.

Earlier the monthly jobs report showed how an overheated job market was returning to room temperature.

The jobless rate rose to 3.8 percent in August, up from 3.5 percent in July and the highest since February 2022, the Labor Department said in its employment situation report on Friday.

Employers added 187,000 new jobs last month, more than economists had expected, and up from 157,000 in July, a figure that was revised downward by 30,000. 

But the rising unemployment rate suggests that job seekers are spending more time between positions, as the number of openings drops from the dizzying levels seen last year, when companies were desperate for labor. 

‘We are beginning to see this slow glide into a cooler labor market,’ said Becky Frankiewicz, chief commercial officer at the employment firm ManpowerGroup. ‘Make no mistake: Demand is cooling off. … But it’s not a freefall.’ 

The labor force participation rate, which had been flat since March, increased to 62.8 percent, finally reaching a level in line with figures recorded before the pandemic. 

The number of ‘new entrants’ among the unemployed, referring to people with no prior work experience, edged up as well, suggesting that first-time job seekers are spending longer on their job hunts. 

Signs of a cooling labor market should be welcome by the Federal Reserve, which has been trying to tame inflation with a series of aggressive interest rate hikes. 

The central bank wants to see hiring decelerate, because strong demand for workers tends to fuel rapid wage increases and feed inflation. 

The new data showed that average hourly earnings in August rose 0.2 percent, slower than the month before, to $33.82. Average hourly earnings are up 4.3 percent from a year ago.

PureGym sprints ahead as it hooks in 190,000 new members in the last six months

• PureGym reported first-half turnover expanded 17% year-on-year to £272m
• It launched 29 new sites during the period, with the majority opening in Britain 
• Last year, the firm announced medium-term plans to expand to over 1,000 sites

By Harry Wise

Updated: 11:38 EDT, 24 August 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

I have been on the sleeping pill zopiclone for seven months and am wondering if I should come off it. I’m sleeping well but have started to get headaches. Do you have any advice?

Zopiclone is a Z drug – the other is zolpidem – and these should only be used for a short term, perhaps a few weeks.

Taking them for longer can lead to dependence. People may find they can’t sleep without them and suffer side-effects such as brain fog, poor memory, numbness and even anxiety and depression.

We also know that a tolerance builds up so that, in time, people need to use it more and more.

Anyone on a Z drug for more than a month or so should reduce their dose slowly due to the risk of withdrawal effects. These can include anxiety, the shakes, sweating and nausea.

Some patients tell me they feel their heart racing or that their old sleeping issue is coming back – but this is simply withdrawal. It’s important to speak to the GP to make a plan about how to stop.

We often do this over a period of weeks or months to make it as comfortable as possible. It can take more than one attempt.

For long-term sleeping problems, the recommended treatment is CBT-i, a specific form of cognitive behavioural therapy which tackles the thoughts and behaviours that cause and worsen insomnia.

For example, relaxation therapy or sleep restriction is used. Sleep restriction is where the patient is encouraged to limit their time in bed. They go to bed and get up at a set time, with a short window to begin with that’s increased.

It’s quite an involved process and a GP or therapist can help guide you through it. Or you can try an app such as Sleepio.

Sleep hygiene is often talked about. It means creating the best possible environment and mindset for sleeping with ideas like a tech-free room and not exercising before bed. This won’t cure your insomnia but is an important help alongside.

After tripping on a broken paving stone 18 months ago and fracturing my shoulder and arm I was diagnosed with moderate osteoporosis. I am 72 and have always eaten well and exercised. I’ve been recommended a drug called zoledronate but I’m worried as I’ve read it can cause some pretty nasty dental issues and I’ve had an extraction recently. What should I do?

Osteoporosis is a thinning of the bones that makes them weaker and more likely to break.

The aim of treatment is to prevent a fracture. Falls become more common as we age due to loss of muscle strength and stability and balance problems.

It can be quite serious. For example, hip fracture from osteoporosis will cause a permanent disability in around half of people who suffer one.

Osteoporosis is diagnosed with a DEXA scan. The result is given as a score which translates into various stages of bone thinning.

Whether treatment is recommended and what that treatment is depends on these results and a personal risk score calculated by a doctor, known as the fragility fracture score. Already having had a break will mean a higher score but it also depends on other factors such as age and family history. Treatment includes diet and exercise. Taking enough Vitamin D and calcium, both needed for healthy bones, is vital, as is adopting weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises to support your bones.

The Royal Osteoporosis Society website (theros.org.uk) has helpful how-to exercise guides and diet advice.

Medication is important to strengthen the bones and there are a range, including HRT which may be suitable for some women in this case. All medications carry side effects and the dental complications of some osteoporosis drugs are important to weigh up if you need dental work. If you’ve had dental problems, it’s important to tell your doctor or nurse so they can work out the best treatment.

I have just returned from a holiday in Spain and suffered swelling in my feet and ankles after getting off the plane. This has been happening for years but tests show my circulation is fine. I am 71 and active. Is there any medication I could take? When it flares up it’s very sore and uncomfortable.

Swelling like this is known as oedema and though it can look unsightly, and feel uncomfortable, it’s generally harmless if all tests are normal.

When we sit for long periods, the movement of blood from the lower limbs back to the heart can slow. This allows fluid in the blood to leak out of the veins and into the surrounding tissues, which causes the swelling.

Movement of muscles in the legs and feet help to squeeze blood through the veins back to the heart more efficiently.

Oedema is worse for anyone with heart or vascular issues, so doctors do heart tests and other scans to check everything is ok. You may consider special socks for the plane. Compression stockings apply pressure to your legs, mimicking the muscles and aiding circulation. These are measured specifically for you and you can try different strengths and lengths to see what works and is comfortable.

We do sometimes prescribe water tablets – diuretics. It may be something that can be taken short-term to prevent these difficult symptoms on holiday.

Has hospital sent you home without care?

I heard an alarming story last week from the wife of a chap who was ‘turfed out’ of hospital after a horrific fall at home.

A few days after being admitted, despite the fact that he was practically unconscious having broken his hip, a hospital worker called claiming he said ‘he felt ready to come home’.

His wife agreed, of course. She asked if there would be any help. ‘Someone will come to assess,’ she was reassured. A care package – a bed downstairs, a commode and some help – would then be issued. But that never happened.

Luckily, she corralled friends to get a bed into the living room. After a few days of calling, the GP arranged a bedpan – but she still couldn’t get through to anyone from the hospital.

What a sorry tale. This scenario would fall under Discharge To Assess. Introduced in 2016, patients well enough to leave hospital but who need extra support are sent home and seen within days by an occupational health worker, who will then organise care. Clearly this doesn’t always happen.

If you’ve been in this situation, I’d like to hear from you. Write to me at the address above.

Heart attacks affect women too

I found myself irritated by an image that was posted on social media by the NHS’s Instagram account this week.

The picture was of an overweight man with hands clutching his chest, followed by part of a heart health campaign, designed to help people spot the signs of heart attacks. But we need to stop presenting heart attacks as a problem that only affects men.

It is well known that heart attacks often go hidden in women because there is an assumption – among patients and some doctors – that they are unique to men. It means women are slower to get vital treatment and are more likely to die from a heart attack.

Heart disease kills more than twice as many women in the UK as breast cancer. It may be time for the health campaign posters to reflect that.

Rumer Willis shows off svelte postpartum body FOUR MONTHS after giving birth as she enjoys day out with newborn daughter Louetta in LA

By Katherine Stinson For Dailymail.Com

Published: 22:04 EDT, 12 August 2023 | Updated: 22:25 EDT, 12 August 2023

Disney Plus reveals premium and budget streaming prices after losing 11.7m customers in three months

By Daily Mail City & Finance Reporter

Published: 17:16 EDT, 10 August 2023 | Updated: 02:56 EDT, 11 August 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has announced he’s bought back the sports media company he created from PENN Entertainment.

The Swampscott, Massachusetts native said in a video that PENN had decided to end its relationship with Barstool and divested the complete ownership of the company back to him.

Portnoy is back as the sole owner of the company for the first time in nearly a decade – after The Chernin Group bought a minority, then a majority stake in the company.

After PENN acquired the rest of Barstool in February of this year, Portnoy retained creative control over the content of the site.

According to him, PENN decided to go in a separate direction after agreeing to a deal with ESPN – who has had a frosty relationship with Barstool in the past. 

‘PENN Entertainment and Barstool Sports have gone their separate ways. As of this moment – as you are watching this video – I have purchased back Barstool Sports from PENN,’ Portnoy began.

PENN had purchased a stake in Barstool for 36 percent of the company in January of 2020 – increasing their stake to about 50 percent by 2023. 

Reports at the time of the initial PENN deal indicated that The Chernin Group would retain their 36 percent stake in the company. It’s unclear whether or not Chernin eventually sold their stake to PENN, or if they sold it to Portnoy in this deal.

As for how the deal came about, Portnoy said, ‘We did this deal about three years ago, and I think both parties were like “we’re gonna take this thing to the moon”.’

‘We underestimated just how tough it is for myself and Barstool to operate in a regulated world where gambling regulators, the New York Times, Business Insider hit pieces f–king with the stock price. Every time we did something it was one step forward two steps back.

‘We got denied licenses because of me. You name it. So the regulated industry probably not the best place for Barstool Sports and the type of content we make.’

‘PENN was able to broker an unbelievable deal with ESPN. We wish them nothing but the best in their endeavors. It’s truly a win-win.’

Portnoy continued, assuring his army of fans that now Barstool was a private company, that their content would return to the raunchy, irreverent work they became infamous for.

‘More importantly, for us, for Barstool, for the first time in forever, we don’t have to watch what we say, how we talk, what we do. It’s back to the pirate ship. 

‘By the way, I will never sell Barstool Sports [again], ever. I’ll hold it till I die.’ 

As Portnoy said, PENN announced via a press release that they were entering into a new deal with ESPN – which will see Barstool Sportsbook rebranded as ESPN Bet.

The release says the sale of all of Barstool’s stock to Portnoy was ‘in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants.’ PENN also gets the right to half of the gross proceeds Portnoy gets in any subsequent sale or monetization of Barstool.

‘Barstool has been a great partner and we are thankful to Dave Portnoy, [Barstool CEO] Erika Ayers, Dan Katz, and their team for helping to rapidly scale our digital footprint across 16 jurisdictions in the US and introducing their audience to our retail and digital products,’ said PENN CEO Jay Snowden.

‘The divestiture allows Barstool to return to its roots of providing unique and authentic content to its loyal audience without the restrictions associated with a publicly traded, licensed gaming company.’

With Barstool’s public ownership came scrutiny from investors and the media. 

In May, former host Ben Mintz was fired by PENN after reading rap lyrics which included the N-Word. despite his apology and Portnoy’s pleas to keep him.

PENN’s stock price fell as a result of his axing.

In that same PENN press release, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro celebrated the move – with ESPN agreeing to a deal which sees PENN pay them $1.5billion over a ten-year deal.

‘After meeting with Jay and the PENN team, it was clear that they were the right long-term strategic partner to build ESPN Bet into a leading US sports betting platform,’ Pitaro said.

‘We are confident that the combination of our unparalleled audience along with PENN’s operational expertise and state-of-the-art technology provides us with a tremendous opportunity to serve the ever-growing number of consumers interested in betting.