Serena Williams, Quinta Brunson and Venus Williams at the 2024 ESPY Awards.
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Serena Williams Reunited with her sister Venus, Quinta Branson He called out Pat McAfee for comments he made about WNBA star Kaitlyn Clark earlier this year. 2024 ESPY AwardsThe three also Harrison Butker.
During the ESPYs show, host Serena took the stage with Venus and Quinta to perform a segment celebrating the growing popularity of women’s sports this year, thanks in part to Clark, who rose to stardom after playing at the University of Iowa and was selected first overall in the WNBA draft in April.
The three women reviewed a list of acceptable terms to use when referring to female athletes, which included “athlete,” “champion” and “idiot” (because, as Brunson pointed out, all athletes are idiots sometimes).
“Just don’t use the B-word,” the group said, to cheers from the audience.
The moment was likely a reference to ESPN commentator Pat McAfee last month. Introduced to Clark During a discussion of her talent in relation to a conversation about race, she was called a “white bitch.”
“What we’re saying is, what the WNBA has right now is what we call a cash cow. They have superstars,” McAfee said in June, “but I hate it when people in the media keep saying, ‘This rookie class, this rookie class.’ No, tell it like it is: They’ve got one white bitch on that Indiana team who’s a superstar.”
After some initial backlash online, McAfee issued an apology on X (formerly Twitter).
“I shouldn’t have described Caitlin Clark as a ‘white bitch'” He wrote“Even if we’re talking about race being a factor in some incidents, regardless of context, I have too much respect for her and the women in question to put that out there into the world. My intention when I said it, as well as that whole piece, was as a compliment, but many people have said that was never the case. That is 100% my responsibility and I apologize for that.”
Commentators pointed out that he also sent a personal letter of apology to Clark.
Elsewhere in the segment, Serena, Venus and Branson also slammed Harrison Butker. suffered a major attack In a commencement speech at Benedictine University this year, he condemned abortion, euthanasia, IVF, surrogacy and the LGBTQ community.
“Enjoy women’s sports. It’s just like any other sport, except for Harrison Butker,” Serena said to cheers, though Butker was in the crowd but her reaction was not shown on camera.
