Jemele Hill has thoughts on Caitlin Clark facing backlash for attending a Morgan Wallen concert.
“On the latest episode of SPOLITICS Live, I ask why Caitlin Clark is getting smoke for walking out with country star Morgan Wallen at his concert when Peyton Manning, Travis Kelce, Myles Garrett, Marshawn Lynch, and many other male athletes have done the exact same thing,” Hill, 50, wrote via X on Wednesday, May 13.
In the comments section, fans shared their mixed reactions.
“I would suggest that Clark partying at a concert hours after playing mediocre in her home opener is the bigger issue. She’s the third best player on her team and that needs to change fast,” one user wrote, while another added, “Not fair. Hypocritical. She should be able to do this. She got a huge pop so the concert going fans sure did not mind. Let CC22 play ball and leave her alone.”
The Indiana Fever star, for her part, made headlines when she walked out with the country music singer at his Indianapolis, Indiana, event on Saturday, May 9. The outing came after Clark, 24, faced a 107-104 loss in which she missed what would have been a game-tying three pointer with 7.1 seconds remaining.
“I’m sorry.. you didn’t get back on defense and Paige [Bueckers] drops 20 on you,” one user wrote via X. “Plus you miss a 3 at the end and take an L. Do better.”
The appearance also raised eyebrows for some fans due to Clark interacting with Wallen, 33, who faced criticism in 2021 when he used a racial slur in a video shared by TMZ.
“She walks out with a racist? Not a good look,” an X user wrote, while another added, “…. Yeah I ain’t defending this one, very disappointed.”
Clark has not addressed the appearance. Wallen, meanwhile, apologized for using the slur days after the video was posted online.
“I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better,” he said in a statement at the time.
Years later, Wallen played at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium for his two-night One Night at a Time concert residency and was filmed walking onto the stage from his greenroom. Show footage shared by Brittany Mahomes showed Wallen giving Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Kelce, now 36, high fives.
At the time, Wallen wore a No. 7 Chiefs team jersey, which is worn by controversial player Harrison Butker. The kicker, for his part, was under fire in 2024 when his graduation speech encouraged female graduates to pursue careers as homemakers. Butker, now 30, also made comments relating to the LGBTQIA+ community, IVF, surrogacy and more.
