Serena Williams She gave a top-notch performance at the 2024 ESPY Awards, hosting the event in Los Angeles with a mix of humor and sharp commentary.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion tennis legend delivered a comedic monologue that sparked a social media stir, particularly with a “racist” joke aimed at a rookie WNBA star. Caitlin Clark.
Williams took to the Dolby Theatre stage surrounded by a troupe of tennis-clad stars and set the stage for a humorous opening line-up: She began by thanking Kaitlyn for being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, before delivering a punchline that garnered a lot of attention on social media.
“Kaitlin Clark has had a great year and been nominated for three awards,” Williams said, drawing applause from the audience. She continued, “You’re Larry Bird in that you’re a great player, you have that Indiana connection and white people are crazy about you.”
Clark, who plays for the Indiana Fever and was scheduled to play in Indianapolis that Friday, did not attend the ceremony. She had a stellar freshman season with the Fever and was nominated for three awards: Female Athlete of the Year, Best Record-Breaking Performance and Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year.
Williams’ joke about Clark quickly went viral online, eliciting a variety of reactions.
Social media users were divided, with some praising the humour and others not. One user on X (formerly Twitter) commented: “Shame on you @serenawilliams. What a horrible comment. Try harder,” while another user fired back at the monologue clip, saying: “It’s a joke, it’s not that serious.”
The conversation didn’t end there, with one user tweeting in disbelief, “Oh my goodness even if she was just messing around why would she do that? Unbelievable.”
Another chimed in: “Next time let’s make black jokes mainstream too.” Others lamented the focus on race, with one commenting, “Selina is loved by everyone, why does she have to bring color into the conversation? When are people going to grow up and stop being petty? We are all the same, no matter the color of our skin or background. This is sad.”
Williams started off by criticizing literally no one. She touched on the ongoing feud between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the financial troubles surrounding Shohei Ohtani’s former translator, and ESPN’s disproportionate coverage of women’s sports compared to major sports leagues and cornhole competitions.
“Stand up. Get off TikTok. Work hard. See how capable you are. Be great. Be so great people won’t believe you are. And be even greater. And when you’ve done all that… you don’t pick a fight with Kendrick,” she joked.
23-time Grand Slam winner LeBron James.
