When Love Island USA announced that Shannon St. Clair would be a Season 3 Islander, it brought a lot of her past out into the open.
Out of all the original Islanders, Shannon was the one who came in with the most public baggage.
At the time, Monsters & Critics shared that she was reported to have dated Dave Portnoy, the creator of Barstool Sports, just months before arriving on Love Island USA.
That even played out a little on the show when her “bestie” Genny Shawcross showed up as an Islander and brought all the drama.
Dave Portnoy accused of sexual misconduct
Portnoy is currently in the news after being accused of sexual misconduct — allegations he denies.
The claims against him surfaced in an investigative article by Business Insider, with Portnoy accused of choking and filming two women without their consent during “violent and humiliating” sexual encounters.
One woman Business Insider spoke to — who was given the pseudonym Madison in the article — said she was a 20-year-old college student who started exchanging messages with the 43-year-old Portnoy before he invited her to his home in Nantucket.
Madison said that she felt like “a human sex doll” because of how he treated her.
A second woman also spoke to Business Insider and claimed that she too was “both choked and filmed without advance permission.”
Portnoy strongly denies the allegations and has defended himself on social media — calling the Business Insider article “character assassination”.
“They found virtually nothing,” he said in the video. “There’s one incidence… I’m basically accused of going to a local cookie shop with a different girl every few days. So that is the gist of it.”
“It’s disgusting and it’s character assassination,” he added. “My lawyers have said just let it go, it’ll go away. I’m not going to let it go… I’ve never been attacked like this.”
In the latest development at the time of writing, Daily Beast reports that Portnoy was banned from Twitter for 12 hours after “doxxing” Editor-in-Chief of Business Insider Nicholas Carlson.
Shannon St. Clair dated Dave Portnoy earlier this year
Page Six was first to report earlier this year that Shannon St. Clair had been dating Portnoy.
The news emerged before the ex-cheerleader appeared on Love Island USA. On the show, she refused to talk about Portnoy and has avoided any discussion bout him since leaving the program.
After her exit from Love Island USA, Shannon has been focusing her social media and internet presence on her relationship with Josh Goldstein, who she met on the show.
She has not commented on the claims against Portnoy, and there is no suggestion that she is involved in the allegations against him.
Love Island USA is currently on hiatus. Fans can relive Season 3 on Paramount+ streaming.