John Cusack defended himself when a Barstool Sports employee accused him of being a fair-weather Chicago White Sox fan at a Sox playoff game on Sunday. (See the video below.)
Cusack, an Illinois native perhaps known more as a supporter of the crosstown Cubs, has previously said he cheers for both teams. He also starred in the movie “Eight Men Out,” which is about White Sox players embroiled in a gambling scandal during the 1919 World Series.
His interrogator, Dave Williams of Barstool Chicago — known to some as “White Sox Dave” — gave Cusack an unwelcome lecture about bandwagon-jumping in a video that Barstool posted on Sunday.
Cusack repeated that he grew up pulling for both rivals.
“You can’t tell me where I can go,” he said. “I can like whoever I want.” He told Williams they’d have to “agree to disagree.”
Williams, who has questioned Cusack’s fandom before, later commented that the actor was on his “banned list.”
Cusack and Williams took the confrontation to social media. Cusack called the Barstool employee a “pathetic little troll” and wrote that he was using him for “click bait.” Even actor Patricia Arquette got involved. (See some of the Tweets below.)
And be warned that this may not be over: The White Sox, who avoided elimination in the American League divisional series with a victory over the Houston Astros, face the Astros again in a rain-postponed Game 4 on Tuesday. Chicago trails 2 games to 1 in the best-of-five matchup.