Josh Richards was initially wary about his former “BFFs” podcast cohost Dave Portnoy spilling the tea in his Cancel Me If You Can memoir.
“I was [nervous] when I first heard that. I think I’m always nervous when I hear Dave’s talking about me or, like, tag[s] me in something because he just has that effect on people,” Richards, 24, exclusively told Us on Friday, July 31, while promoting the second season of “Read the Room,” his self-funded sketch comedy series. “But, I think it was all positive.”
Portnoy, 49, released his nonfiction book, Cancel Me If You Can, last month about his experience building Barstool Sports. Given that Portnoy had hosted “BFFs” with Richards and Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia under the firm’s umbrella, it was assumed pre-publication that stories about the influencer would be featured in select chapters.
“People told me that it was all nice things, so, shout-out [to] Dave. He’s great,” Richards told Us, noting he has yet to read the book for himself. “I believe there was a package I got sent to my house that had ‘Barstool Sports’ on it just as I was leaving to go [celebrate] my grandmother’s 80th birthday. I missed that, but hopefully [I can get another] one.”
Richards added, “If [he] didn’t [send a copy], Dave, what the hell? You wrote about me in it. I know that because my [live]stream told me, so give me the book. I’ll do a live reading or something like that.”
Richards, Portnoy and LaPaglia, 27, have remained on friendly terms since ending their joint podcast in 2025 after five years.
“It just felt like there needed to be a next chapter. I think that at that time, with what we were doing with the show, it didn’t feel like it was progressing in any way,” Richards recalled. “It felt like it had reached its plateau, and I think, unless there was a way that we found for it to be new and exciting again … then we’ll leave it be what it was, which was an amazing five years of getting to do this incredibly cool podcast.”
He continued, “[‘BFFs’] truly was one of those first social media creator podcasts that was made and was able to live for so long. I think it’s an amazing thing to look back at and have be what it was.”
Richards stressed that there was no lingering bad blood after deciding to hang up the mic.
“Everyone’s still friends and good and hangs out and sees each other all the time,” he stated. “I’m gonna see Dave in a week, I think, actually. So yeah, we’re always still, you know, in each other’s lives.”
Since walking away from “BFFs,” Richards has been focused on his “Read the Room” comedy series.
“The differences in season 1 and 2 is that it’s just been so leveled up in every facet, I think, from an acting standpoint, a guest standpoint [and] from a production standpoint,” Richards told Us. “We’ve just really been able to take all the lessons we learned in season 1 and plug those into season 2. I’m just really excited for the audience to get to see it and the people that enjoyed season 1 to, maybe, enjoy season 2 even a little bit more.”
“Read the Room” season 2, featuring guests including Chris Redd and Harry Jowsey, premieres in August.
