Portnoy hits out after fans brand him a 'sellout'

Mike Portnoy has hot back at fans who called him a “sellout”.

The Dream Theater and Winery Dogs drummer recently helped launch a new app called TweetSecret, which allows fans access to behind-the-scenes videos from Portnoy and a host of other sporting and musical stars for a fee of $2.99 a month.

But shortly after posting a video announcing his involvement with the app, Portnoy came in for some stick on his Facebook page, with some fans branding him a “sellout”.

He had since responded, warning anyone who posts abusive messages that they will be blocked from his Facebook page.

He says: “The Tweet Secret app is something fun that I was asked to be a part of, along with several other musicians, athletes, etc. I don’t control the fact that there is a monthly subscription fee, but really, it’s only $2.99 a month. Is that really worth complaining about? That’s less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

“I figured you’d enjoy getting an inside, behind the scenes look into my day-to-day life. If this does not interest you, then fine, just ignore the posts that automatically go here when a new clip is posted and move on with your day. However, the nasty comments that seem to be popping up here calling me a ‘sellout’ or personally attacking me because of this app (which is not mine, mind you) will not be tolerated and you will be banned from this page. There’s no need to be mean and nasty around here.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.