Serena Williams and her sister Venus, and Quinta Brunson criticized Pat McAfee for his remarks about WNBA star Caitlin Clark during the 2024 ESPY Awards.
The trio also made remarks about Harrison Butker.
Onstage at the ESPYs, Serena, Venus, and Quinta highlighted the increasing popularity of female sports this year, attributing it in part to Caitlin Clark, who became the top pick in the WNBA Draft in April after gaining fame while playing for the University of Iowa.
The three ladies went over a list of appropriate terms for female athletes, including “athlete,” “champion,” and even “dumbass” (since, as Brunson pointed out, all athletes can be a bit silly at times).
“Just don’t use the b-word,” they said.
This was in reference to ESPN commentator Pat McAfee, who recently called Clark a “white bitch” while discussing her skills in the context of race-related conversations.
McAfee later apologized on X, after facing backlash for the moment online.
“I shouldn’t have used ‘white bitch’ as a descriptor of Caitlin Clark”, he wrote.
“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.”
The commentator revealed that he also sent a personal apology to Clark.
In another part of the segment, Serena, Venus, and Brunson also took a swipe at Harrison Butker, who faced significant backlash this year after his controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College where he condemned abortion, euthanasia, IVF, surrogacy.
Serena humorously remarked, “Enjoy women’s sports, they’re just like other sports, except you Harrison Butker,” receiving cheers from the audience.
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