Kathy Hochul vs Dave Portnoy: Feud explained as NY Governor slams Barstool founder with ‘SoulCycle’ dig | Hindustan Times

A social media argument between New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s office and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy took an unexpected turn when the governor’s team brought up a personal scandal from nearly 10 years ago to respond to him.According to New York Post, the exchange started after Hochul urged wealthy people who had left New York to come back. Portnoy, who has moved to Florida, reacted to this. He said it was contradictory that Hochul was trying to attract rich residents while New York City’s new Mayor Zohran Mamdani was pushing to increase taxes on the wealthy."The unbelievable arrogance and hypocrisy of begging millionaires to return to New York while the new Mayor simultaneously says he despises millionaires and supports communism. I wonder why people are flocking to Florida?" Portnoy wrote on X. Hochul's office fired back but with a twistRather than addressing Portnoy's argument directly, Hochul's office took a different approach. The governor's team posted on X, "Is this why you're so mad," alongside a screenshot showing that New York has the highest number of SoulCycle locations in the country.The post referred to a well-known personal scandal from Portnoy’s life. In 2017, he found out that his girlfriend at the time was having an affair with her SoulCycle instructor.Portnoy spoke openly about it on social media and in his podcasts instead of keeping it private. In one post, he wrote, “Best way to avoid calling 911? Don’t have your instructors f–k the girlfriend of head of major media company,” and shared it along with a warning message from SoulCycle to its studios about possible protests.The incident got a lot of attention online, and the hashtag #cuckcycle went viral. Social media reactionThe governor’s office’s response did not land well with some users online, who questioned its relevance.“Am I missing something by not understanding what having the most Soul Cycles has to do with people fleeing NY?” one user wrote.While the other wrote, “Utterly disgraceful reply Governor Hochul. Totally out of line and a complete flop. New York deserves better from its governor. MUCH better. You should start with replacing your press office staff.”“Should have taken more time for research..... you dug up something from 9 years ago to distract from the fact that your money is moving out... bye bye tax revenue,” wrote another.The exchange quickly drew attention online, with reactions focusing on both the political argument and the unexpected reference to Portnoy’s past.