Chris Dembitz, Bayside High grad behind ‘Phony Bennett’ Twitter account, dies after battle with cancer

Jami Frankenberry, The Virginian-Pilot
Updated ·2 min read
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“Phony Bennett” posted thoughts that Tony Bennett, the University of Virginia’s famously attention-shy basketball coach, never could (or would).

The parody account on Twitter — @IfTonyTweeted — gained thousands of followers with his witty posts, sometimes needling UVA’s ACC rivals, including Virginia Tech, with biting humor and insight.

Chris Dembitz, the “dude pretending to be another dude” who created the account, died this week after nearly a two-year battle with cancer. He was 49.

Dembitz, a graduate of Bayside High in Virginia Beach, imagined the social media prowess of Bennett, a religious and disciplined coach who has no social media accounts.

“I’m the dude pretending to be a dude kind of pretending to be another dude,” Dembitz’s Twitter profile read. The account had more than 24,000 followers before Dembitz’s death.

“As Chris’s wife, this is a post I never wanted to make,” read a post Wednesday. “I am devastated as Chris left us early yesterday morning. He fought cancer bravely, with humor, and with everything he had. He had an immense love for UVa and the Hoos. Your memory and light will shine forever, my love.”

Dembitz, a University of Virginia graduate who for a brief time performed as a stand-up comic, began tweeting as Phony Bennett in 2012. He was a diehard UVA fan.

”I found it to be fun to try to condense a joke into 140 characters,” Dembitz told The Pilot in a 2018 interview. “It was a challenge. It’s weird. When you put something really funny on Twitter, it’s done. As a comedian, I would tell the same jokes over and over.”

The real Bennett paid tribute to Dembitz this week in a statement posted by UVA’s men’s basketball Twitter account.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Chris Dembitz AKA Phony Bennett,” Bennett said. “He had a great passion for our basketball program and the University of Virginia. He was a loving husband and father. He fought a courageous battle with cancer in the way we knew he would — with strength, humility, and of course, humor. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Jami Frankenberry, 757-446-2376, jami.frankenberry@pilotonline.com