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| Kirk Minihane |
According to WBUR Radio, the civil lawsuit comes after a few weeks of a public back-and-forth on social media between Curtatone and David Portnoy, president of Barstool Sports, a site aimed at young men that has long been controversial.
According to the complaint, filed in Middlesex Superior Court Monday, the conflict between Curtatone and Barstool Sports began at the end of May during the Stanley Cup Final. Curtatone condemned the site after Jessica Heslam of The Boston Herald criticized the Boston Bruins for partnering with the site for Bruins towels handed out to fans at Game 2.
Portnoy shot back on Twitter and on Barstool Sports, saying "Joe Curtatone appears to be a professional criminal. Like a real life mob boss," and posting screenshots of headlines that ran in local media about Curtatone and his family.
Curtatone's complaint says Kirk Minihane, working for Barstool, called the mayor's office pretending to be The Boston Globe's Kevin Cullen. This ruse worked and Curtatone did speak to Minihane over the telephone, believing him to be Cullen.The complaint states: "Minihane, posing as Cullen, asked for Mayor Curtatone's consent to record him during the interview by stating, 'I'm just going to record this so we have it, is that good?' Mayor Curtatone, believing that he was speaking to a representative of a legitimate news organization, the Boston Globe, responded 'no problem.' "
Curtatone spoke to Minihane for about 20 minutes, and Barstool posted the audio and a video of Minihane on its site, titling it "Kirk Minhane AKA 'Kevin Cullen from The Boston Globe' Interviews Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone."
This action, says Curtatone, violated Massachusetts wiretapping laws; because Minihane lied about who he was, Curtatone says he did not consent to the interview being recorded.
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