ESPN personality Pat McAfee says he's been told not to talk about Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark on his show anymore.
Who told it?
For “God” and “the universe,” he said Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Definitely not on ESPN, the former NFL kicker later clarified on X.
“ESPN has no influence over my show,” the outspoken and sometimes controversial host wrote.
ESPN declined to comment for this story.
In June, McAfee opened an episode with a lengthy monologue in support of Clark in which he referred to the WNBA star as “a white b—.” He apologized the same day.
“My intentions in saying that were complimentary, as was the entire segment, but a lot of people are saying that wasn’t the case at all,” she wrote on X. “That’s 100% my fault and for that I apologize… I also sent an apology to Caitlin. Everything else I said… is still all true.”
During an on-air conversation with veteran sportscaster Rich Eisen on Wednesday, McAfee noted that “the Olympics saved” his show this year and asked Eisen if the same was true for his show.
—Caitlin Clark too, buddy, Eisen replied. No doubt about it.
McAfee responded: “Well, the universe told me not to talk about her.”
—Oh, oh. Is that so? —Eisen asked.
“The universe,” McAfee said. “Yeah, the universe. Yeah, God came to me and said, ‘You know what, man? You better go ahead and stop it.’”
When Eisen asked why “the universe” would tell him such a thing, McAfee made an apparent reference to the June incident.
“Because I’m an idiot, mostly,” McAfee said. “The reason is I’m an idiot. And I mean we’re big supporters… I think what he’s done is obviously remarkable.”
He added: “But still, I am stupid and my speech is not good. And many times, God has intervened and said to me: 'You have to stop.'”
Some people assumed McAfee was implying that his network bosses had laid down the law regarding Clark, who is in his rookie season. But McAfee later said on X that that idea is “not true.”
“I said ‘God’ and the ‘universe’ told me to stop talking about it,” she wrote. “That was through me saying something that inevitably always caused total chaos. It wasn’t good for my life or the show.”
