McAfee said he sent Clark a private apology after backlash from his comments about the Indiana Fever rookie

Sports analyst Pat McAfee has issued an apology after he called Caitlin Clark a ‘white bitch’ while praising the WNBA star.

On the June 3 episode of The Pat McAfee Show, the 36-year-old television host was discussing how the 2024 WNBA draft class and 22-year-old Clark has impacted the league’s viewership this season.

“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,” McAfee said.

“What the WNBA currently has is what we like to describe as a cash cow. There is a superstar,” McAfee had said to start out the segment. “And we’re not saying that the players on the court need to act any differently. That’s the athletes are going to do what the athletes are going to do in any sport. I think we’re all learning, that the WNBA … that’s old-school football, baby.”

The clip of McAfee’s comments quickly circulated on social media, with many users calling the analyst out for how he spoke about Clark.

“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 post with more than 2000 likes on X (formerly known as Twitter) read.

Just hours after McAfee made the comments on television, the ESPN broadcaster penned an apology on X.

“I shouldn’t have used ‘white bitch’ as a descriptor of Caitlin Clark,” McAfee began. “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.”

McAfee continued, “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.”

McAfee also said he sent a private apology to Clark on Monday.

Concluding his message, McAfee defended his original sentiment about Clark and the WNBA. “Everything else I said… still alllllll facts. #Journalism #WNBAProgrum #SheIsTheOne,” he wrote.

The topic came up on McAfee’s show amid the discourse around Clark’s relationship with other WNBA players, and two days after Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter committed a hard foul on Clark away from the ball. Carter then declined to answer any questions about the Indiana Fever rookie.

Later, Carter criticized Clark’s style of play in a reply on Threads. Responding to a video of herself denying Clark-related questions at the press conference, Carter wrote, “& that’s that on that cause beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table man.”

One day after the game, the WNBA announced that the foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1 penalty. Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon issued a statement, saying that Carter “got caught up in the heat of the moment” when she fouled Clark.

Weatherspoon’s statement said. “She and I have discussed what happened and that it was not appropriate, nor is it what we do or who we are. Chennedy understands that there are better ways to handle situations on the court, and she will learn from this.”