Fans are calling for Pat McAfee to be suspended after he referred to Caitlin Clark as a “white bitch” during a rant.
The former football player kicked off Monday’s episode of the “The Pat McAfee Show” by talking about the current state of the WNBA following Chennedy Carter’s controversial hip check against Clark in their game over the weekend.
McAfee, who was at the game, explained that Clark is largely responsible for the league’s massive increase in popularity — despite some claiming the entire rookie class, including Cameron Brink and Angel Reese, has played a role in the bolstered ratings.
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The 37-year-old sports analyst pointed out that Clark’s games have the highest viewership and attendance numbers, while her jersey sales are currently No. 1 in the league.
He also tried to refute claims that she is only popular because she is white, arguing that there are many other Caucasian stars in the WNBA, like Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Kelsey Plum, who haven’t had the same impact.
However, his apparent support of Clark, 22, didn’t land due to his derogatory word choice.
“What the WNBA currently has is what we like to describe as a cash cow, there is a superstar,” McAfee said.
“I would like the media people that continue to say, ‘This rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class’. Nah, just call it for what it is — there’s one white bitch for the Indiana team who is a superstar,” he said while pointing to a photo of Clark.
The remarks didn’t sit right with many fans, who slammed the former punter for not only disrespecting Clark but also the other WNBA players with his impassioned presentation.
“Pat McAfee wants everyone to give Clark this unprecedented respect for what she’s doing for women’s basketball and he can’t even respect her enough to not call her a bitch on live tv,” one X user wrote.
“Calling a woman athlete a b**** while simultaneously tearing down the real and substantial efforts the entire rookie class has done is why Pat McAfee should not be commentating on any women’s sports,” a second person chimed in.
“This is just completely unacceptable. Interested to see how ESPN handles it,” sportscaster Kim Adams added. “And his entire argument is not conducive to anything going on in the #WNBA right now. Just let the women hoop.”
“Thinking about all the talented journalists @ESPN has laid off in the past few years so they could pay Pat McAfee $17 million to call Caitlin Clark, one of the biggest female sports stars, a bitch,” a fourth person added. “It’s not funny. It’s not cute. What is wrong with the people at @espn + @Disney?”
ESPN and McAfee did not immediately respond Pvnew’s requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Clark has not responded to McAfee’s commentary.
