ESPN’s Pat McAfee Apologizes For Using Racial Misogynist Epithet As “Descriptor” For Caitlin Clark; Says He Meant It As A Compliment

ESPN’s sports analyst Pat McAfee has apologized both publicly and privately to WNBA star Caitlin Clark after calling her a “white bitch” on-air.

McAfee says he meant it as a compliment.

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“I shouldn’t have used ‘white bitch’ as a descriptor of Caitlin Clark,” McAfee says in a stating-the-obvious post on X. “No matter the context.. even if we’re talking about race being a reason for some of the stuff happening.. I have way too much respect for her and women to put that into the universe.

“My intentions when saying it were complimentary just like the entire segment but, a lot of folks are saying that it certainly wasn’t at all. That’s 100% on me and for that I apologize… I have sent an apology to Caitlin as well.”

McAfee’s lousy “descriptor” came during a segment on his show discussing the moment in Saturday’s game when Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter hip-checked the Indiana Pacers’ Clark. From there, McAfee spun out the discussion to address recent media accounts of the increased profile and seeming popularity of the WNBA.

“I’m not going to say anything about the athletes on the court,” McAfee said on his show today. “Athletes are going to be athletes, if they think they can get in your head by bodying you or talking sh*t, they’re going to do what they’re going to do.

“But I do have a message for the sports media or the ex-WNBA players. There seems to be this notion, and maybe we’re wrong on it, that this whole evolution of success and popularity in the WNBA is because of this entire rookie class. I think there’s a chance Chennedy Carter of Chicago, whenever she’s going to Caitlin, you see [Sky rookie] Angel Reese get all jacked up about it and celebrating. I think that’s because she thinks Angel Reese deserves more credit than what she’s getting. Caitlin’s getting all this credit and you hear a lot of sports media, ‘This is an entire class, this rookie class is the reason why this is happening it’s the next generation,’ well that’s fun.”

The rivalry between Clark and Reese is, of course, much deeper than a competition between two rookie phenoms. The duo faced off in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Game, which Reese’s team won. During the celebration immediately after that game, Reese was criticized for pointing at her finger and making the “You can’t see me” hand gesture at Clark. Clark later said she took no offense.

McAfee went on to add, “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 b*tch for the Indiana team who is a superstar, and is it because she stayed in Iowa and put an entire state on her back and took a program from nothing to a multiple-year success story?”

In his apology, McAfee made clear that he regretted only his “descriptor.”

“Everything else I said… still alllllll facts,” he concludes.

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