A paparazzi photograph of Tom Brady's son Benjamin at the beach with his mother, Gisele Bundchen, made its way onto the Internet on Thursday. The photo was noteworthy for two reasons: One, Benjamin wasn't wearing any clothes, and two, the website Barstool Sports posted the photograph with some lewd commentary about the 20-month-old's private parts.
Those comments, made by site creator David Portnoy, don't necessarily need to be repeated, but the message was that Brady produces children with large reproductive organs, while Peyton Manning would produce the opposite. It was intended as a joke, but it was received as anything but.
WEEI's The Big Show spent much of the afternoon debating how Portnoy should be punished, legally or otherwise. In doing so, the story hit the mainstream news cycle, with people debating whether posting the pictures crossed a line.
Portnoy posted an 8-minute long video response on his website, and he also spoke to New England Cable News.
"We saw the Brady's kid picture and basically I saw it and thought it was a funny joke," Portnoy, who's no stranger to controversy, told NECN. "I mean really that's the nuts and bolts of it. For me it wasn't so much about the kid, it's an ongoing theme with us is that Brady is the best, Brady is God and really for us that blog was just another way to say it. It's like Brady's kid is the best, Peyton Manning's is the worst."
Reactions have certainly been varied, with seemingly just as many people supporting Portnoy as there are folks upset with him. The question that gets right to the heart of the matter, though, is this: If photos like this of your child were posted all over the Internet, how would you feel?
