Jemele Hill and Pat McAfee (Photos via Getty Images)
Jemele Hill called out ESPN’s Pat McAfee over the controversial comments he made about Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark during Monday’s edition of his show.
Pat McAfee was talking about Caitlin Clark and the 2024 WNBA Draft class on his show, before referring to the first overall pick as a “white b****.” The former NFL punter received immense backlash for the comment and later issued an apology.
Jemele Hill, a former ESPN employee who know works at the The Atlantic, took to X/Twitter and called out McAfee for his comment on Clark. First, she responded by posting “What in the (expletive) is this?”
In a follow-up tweet, Hill called the comment “totally unacceptable” (WARNING: Tweet below contains language that is NSFW).
On Tuesday, McAfee said he received a statement from Caitlin Clark, who accepted his apology. The 37-year-old also again apologized to those he offended with the “white b****” comments.
Clark and the Fever have lost nine of their first 11 games to open the season. They’ll try to get back on track this Friday when they begin a mini two-game road trip against the Washington Mystics.
Not The First Controversy On “The Pat McAfee Show”
ESPN tries to avoid controversies on their programs, but there hasn’t been a shortage of them since McAfee signed a five-year, $85 million deal with the Worldwide Leader in Sports a year ago.
McAfee previously had New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers as a frequent guest on his program. There, Rodgers would bring up baseless conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and its vaccines.
In January, Rodgers made further headlines by stating that Jimmy Kimmel was on the client list of Jeffrey Epstein. Following a scathing response from Kimmel, McAfee announced that the four-time league MVP would not be on the show for the remainder of the season.
Many have called for ESPN to discipline McAfee in some form (suspension or termination of contract). But seeing how much he drives their ratings, it’s no surprise that they’ve taken practically no action.