Pat McAfee has now apologized twice for a pro-Caitlin Clark rant in which he referred to the Indiana Fever star rookie as a “white b—-.” McAfee’s rant praised the popularity she has helped bring to the WNBA.
McAfee first took to Twitter to apologize for the rant on Monday.
To open his live show on Tuesday, he apologized again in a three-minute explanation.
Hello beautiful people..
IT IS TST EVE TUESDAY #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/zmip4FPpLj
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 4, 2024
“When I was saying it I legitimately meant it in a complimentary fashion… As I said it, didn’t even think, honestly had no idea, didn’t have any idea what was happening on the internet until two and a half hours later, after the show ended that I realized and I started reading through a lot of comments that were being said and I felt like actually the worst human on earth,” McAfee said. “Those were not my intentions, but that’s how you took it, that’s on me, I do apologize.”
McAfee went on to defend the sentiment of his words, reiterating that he was trying to make a point that Clark deserves more respect for how she’s stimulated a growth of interest in the league.
“I did reach out to Caitlin Clark through the Fever PR, sent an apology, and then got a message back that she said it was all good.”
“To the people that got pissed off yesterday and offended, I understand, I learned a lot.”
He concluded by explaining to the audience that his program and co-broadcasters — an undeniably unconventional one for linear TV programming — often use unconventional slang and friendly jargon to show respect. He nodded to examples of using “dog” as a highly complimentary adjective and a time he called Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes a swear word during an award show.
