By definition, most things that an influencer does are designed to grab attention.
So, that is what makes Paige Spiranac’s quiet donation of more than US$15,000 to the family of late Barstool personality Cody ‘Beef’ Franke all the more impressive and generous.
The donation by Spiranac, who revealed that she has received thousands of death threats after becoming embroiled in a viral cheating scandal at the Internet Invitational golf tournament, was exposed during Tuesday’s instalment of the Son Of A Boy Dad podcast by Barstool’s Francis Ellis, who also competed in the event.
“I found out through a little birdie that when we all got paid our skins money from the second day, which was 15 or 16 thousand each, Paige Spiranac donated all of her skins money to Beef’s family,” Ellis said.
Ellis also said that fellow competitor Roger Steele Jr. donated his skins winning to Franke’s family, but noted that Spiranac really deserves some recognition after the blonde bombshell had been “beaten up in the dark corridors of the internet” following the viral controversy.
Franke, a popular host of Barstool’s Fore Play podcast, died from a sudden medical issue in October, shortly after the Internet Invitational was recorded for a later broadcast.
Ellis and Brad Dalke played with Franke in the tournament — which was spearheaded by Barstool founder Dave Portnoy — and the trio took home the $1-million grand prize.
Spiranac’s ‘dirty conscious’?
After Ellis’ announcement, co-host Adam ‘Rone’ Ferrone chimed in with a dig at Spiranac over the drama.
“No better way to quell a dirty conscious,” he said.
“She didn’t ask anyone to tell, she didn’t do that, she didn’t expect that to come out,” Ellis replied, coming to the defence of Spiranac. “You had to tell the Barstool payroll person how to give their money and she just told that person, ‘Send it to Beef’s family.’
He added that while Spiranac makes a decent amount of money as an influencer, the donation was “a significant amount of money.”
“I’m impressed that she did that. Especially impressed that it would never have gotten out and if I had not found out and told it on her behalf.”
Rone did show some support for Spiranac, saying she didn’t deserve the hate she received online.
“I think that anybody that’s actually pissed off at her is kind of clownish,” he said.
What was the cheating controversy?
The controversy occurred during the final round of the made-for-streaming event, when Spiranac was accused of cheating after English pro golfer and YouTuber Peter Finch noticed her trampling down some grass in front of a ball in the rough. Doing so improved the lie for teammate Togisala.
After Togisala played an incredible escape, Portnoy asked if “Paige put that on a tee” for him.
“That lie in the rough there, it was s***. Paige has gone ahead to the ball and literally pressed down all the long in front so he could hit it out,” Finch said, with a clip showing Spiranac appearing to bend over and press down the long grass with her hands.
“There’s no way he could have hit that shot without that.”
Finch discussed it with a playing partner and decided to wait to see how the hole played out before bringing up the violation.
Spiranac’s team wound up losing the hole, making it a non-issue, but she was given a heads up from Finch.
Spiranac received ‘thousands’ of threats
Spiranac later revealed that she was overwhelmed by the hate she received following the controversial mistake, saying during a Q and A session on Instagram Live that she received “tens of thousands of death threats.”
“The last week and a half is probably the worst hate I’ve ever received in the ten years of me doing this,” Spiranac said. “I’m talking tens of thousands of death threats, people telling me to kill myself, the most vile, horrendous stuff you could ever say to an individual, that’s been in my DMs to the point where we were discussing me having to potentially get a restraining order.
“I mean, it’s serious stuff. It’s not easy, and it hasn’t been easy.”