My Official Rebuttal to Dave Portnoy (respectfully of course)
Given that I am writing a blog in direct response to my boss, I definitely need to start with a few disclaimers. I respect Dave and would not be writing this blog if I felt like it was crossing a line. From my understanding of the company, it is actually encouraged that I keep the back and forth going. If I am wrong, then my bad. At this point, we’re beating the shit out of a dead horse but that’s showbiz baby.
Recently, Dave has made a few comments regarding conversations between him and I, as well as his thoughts on Spring Break House, Las Vegas. I think the best way to go about this is by laying everything out chronologically. For reference "Beach House" is the one we did on the Jersey Shore, and "Spring Break" is what we did in Las Vegas.
Barstool Beach House in NJ took form in August. In October, the idea of Spring Break House in Vegas started to accumulate buzz around the office. I texted Dave and said, “Want to circle back around- I genuinely believe I am a great fit for Spring Break and I can promise that I won’t ‘couple up’ w Nick if thats what u need from me.” I don’t feel comfortable directly quoting the message Dave sent me back (it feels wrong) but he essentially told me that he doesn’t need or want anything and that he doesn’t want peoples’ actions to be dictated by what we thought he wanted. He also expressed concern that he did not want this to become a free vacation for all of us. About a week later, I spoke on a podcast about wanting to be a part of Spring Break House. I am not going to downplay it, I was nothing short of a fiery shitshow while discussing the topic. Following that, I was asked to join The Yak and further explain why I wanted to be a part of it. As far as I remember, this was the last time I publicly spoke about wanting to be a part of the show. I ended my appearance on The Yak by essentially saying that I think they should send Nick to Vegas and then send me out a few days later if they really wanted to see a shit show. And let’s be honest- who doesn’t want to see a shit show?
As many of you could probably guess, I did not have fun on Beach House. Simply put, I just don’t think excessive drinking days on end is my bread and butter. And for clarification's sake, no one was forcing me to drink, it was simply a pressure I felt due to the environment. I am well aware that this was no one’s fault but my own. However from a business and brand perspective, Beach House was great for me and I also believed that the numbers on TikTok and Instagram reflected the fact that I was important to the show. In business, I believe everyone should vouch for themselves and thus the reason I chose to vouch for myself to join Spring Break. Selfishly, I was also bitter because the Beach House started due to a blow out fight between Nick, Ella, and I. How could I be a massive part of the reason this entire show started, and yet I am being kicked off? And to make this clear, this was not a reason I gave for why I should be added to Spring Break, it was simply an internal thought that added fuel to my Spring Break House desire. Due to my stubborn nature, I also believed that I would be able to flip the script in regards to how the Barstool audience viewed me. Plot twist- I was sorely mistaken.
Months went by without much discussion. Then, I believe in February the conversation of Spring Break House was brought back up. I had completely cooled down from the self-inflicted fallout of Beach House and decided I had already done what I could do, and assumed I probably would not be asked to attend Spring Break. To my semi-surprise, I got the text. I was going to Barstool Spring Break in Las Vegas. For me, this caused a bit of anxiety but also a feeling of excitement, knowing that I was getting a second chance to prove myself.
I believe it was about two weeks prior to Spring Break, Dave discussed the idea of people being sent home and new people coming in. Up until this point, I was under the impression that we were just going to rerun the Jersey Shore squad with a slightly different cast. The idea of people getting sent home sent me into a further spiral. I was well aware of the fact that I was not nearly as interesting as the rest of the cast, and began to heavily feel the pressure of the looming Spring Break House.
Right before we were set to head out to Vegas, I met Brady. Name not ringing a bell? That’s because he decided to give himself the title of “Situationship”. We spent about 36 hours together and shared a few sweet smooches. We talked about liking each other and how we planned on seeing each other in the future, despite living in different states. Upon meeting him, I knew the timing was awful. I realized at this point that I would spend my week in Vegas trying to find the perfect balance between not getting kicked off the show but also not disrespecting a guy that I liked. And just for the sake of somewhat clearing my name, I need to add that I did not cheat on Brady and me flirting with Nick or hooking up with Nick would’ve been no problem, had it not been on camera. I fucked up and originally felt really bad for what I did to Brady. Now, I can acknowledge that I did something shitty but since he turned out to be 10x shittier, I really don’t give a fuck about his feelings.
On the way to Las Vegas, I was still confident that I wouldn’t “relapse” on Nick. Him and I have always gone back and forth but we had managed to stay away from each other for a few months. Unfortunately, as soon as alcohol hit our systems, we got flirty. We were plastered and I truthfully did not realize how much we were flirting. This was also during the first day, and Nick and I kind of agreed we would separate ourselves for the night. If I were Dave, I would’ve been pissed at this point. That is when Dave sent Nick and I a text and shot out a tweet basically saying that one of us would go home if we continued to hang all over each other. Immediately upon receiving this text, I knew there was a 0% chance of Nick getting sent home, so it only came down to me. I have no explanation for my actions that followed other than excessive alcohol intake, lack of sleep, lack of eating, and stress. Once again, that was no one’s fault but my own.
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On day two, this is when Hannah called me in regards to Craig Conover. The only reason I added that bit of information into my blog yesterday was because I wanted to clarify what Hannah was talking about, when she referenced a certain thing she told me to do on Spring Break. I don't see that as relevant to really anything, as I know neither Dave nor Austin told her to make that call. However, since Dave referenced it in his tweet, I felt the need to at least acknowledge it once more.
*Annika was not asked to be on Spring Break cause everybody was sick of Annika/Smokes storyline. Annika begged to be on show and promises she wont run back same storyline. Proceeds to instantly run back the same exact storyline so I had to save the show which i did. I get asked if Craig Conover can come to the house. Guess he happened to be in vegas. I say yes that would be awesome. Never would ever tell anybody to fuck for a storyline. If Austin told Hannah and Hannah told Annika that again just shows how badly Austin fucked up and abused his position even if it woulda been a great storyline. You almost got to admire the delusion of Smokes and Anikka thinking their dynamic is remotely interesting anymore
However, tornado Annika wasn’t quite done yet. As fucking ridiculous as it sounds, I wanted to hook up with my ex boyfriend, whom has always served as a place of comfort for me. While drunk, I think I attempted to play a “badass” role but truthfully it was never about the sex with Nick, it was about the fact that I was spiraling and needed comfort. As I began thinking about it more, I drunkenly thought, “honestly, this will create waves whether those be good or bad waves.” And thus, Nick and I spent the night together.
The following night, motherfucking Brady showed up to Spring Break.
Now this is where I feel the need to explain my disagreement with Dave and a few of the higher ups. As soon as I got back to the office, I told Austin that I thought Brady coming to Spring Break House crossed a line. Not a legal one, but a moral one. Simply put, I would’ve never vouched for myself to join Spring Break had I thought there was going to be a possibility that people outside of the Barstool circus would get involved. I know Brady’s bitch ass asked a million producers to come on the show and I think they should have said no.
Dave compares Brady coming onto the show to West’s ex-girlfriend entering the Bravo Summer House universe. However, there are a few reasons that I think the circumstances are extraordinarily different. In terms of West Wilson’s ex coming onto Bravo Summer House, my understanding is that one of the other castmates brought West’s ex-girlfriend onto the show- not production. If someone else from the Spring Break House cast specifically asked Brady to join, I would’ve been pissed at them, but I would’ve understood why he was there. I also think it is important to note that on a show such as Summer House, crew and cast work together for a few months while filming the show and I believe that's the extent of it. For us, our production and crew also double as our close friends, coworkers, and superiors.
In June when Dave and I spoke on the phone about my contract, he brought up my reaction to Brady coming to Spring Break. He expressed to me that he doesn’t like being at odds with his employees and he felt like it was completely fair to send Brady to Las Vegas. I told him that I was most likely never going to see eye to eye with him about that situation, but that it really didn’t matter. I don’t think Dave’s opinion is wrong, but I also don’t think my opinion is wrong. That being said, Dave’s opinion obviously trumps mine. We simply viewed the situation differently. And guess what? That’s okay.
And as for Dave saying "I would not trust Annika as far as I can bowl her-her opinion," I actually agree for the most part. I do not tell lies, but I typically have a terrible read on people. I am entirely too trusting and my tendency to see the best in people is frequently weaponized against me. It has shown primarily through my dating life that I do not have a good read on people. After the past 6 months, I don't even trust my own opinion.
And lastly, I have been somewhat hesitant to state this as an official stance, but I 100% believe the storyline of Nick and I kept the viewers entertained. From my perspective, Twitter users hated seeing Nick and I together, whereas Instagram and TikTok users were much more receptive. As far as I could tell, some of the most viral videos from Beach House and Spring Break House were due to our dynamic. Even recently, I posted a video on TikTok of Nick and I, all the commenters were basically expressing how much they want to see us together again.
Similarly, for shows such as Rat Race, Nick and I are promoted together and I can only assume production does that because it gets the clicks. Maybe it's a coincidence and maybe I'm delusional, but that's how I see it. I simply wanted to explain why Nick and I have felt like our storyline holds more relevance than Dave gives us credit for.
I wrote this blog, for the same reason I wrote the blog rebuttal to Hannah Montoya yesterday- I like to defend myself when I feel like context is important. Dave has been nothing but fair and honest towards me. I do not think Dave said anything wrong or left anything out, I just personally felt it necessary to add a few details. And as always, have a lovely day everyone!