‘Fake. Transparent. Sad’: Megyn Kelly Goes Off on Caitlin Clark for Comments About White Privilege in Time Athlete of the Year Profile
Megyn Kelly was among a handful of prominent right-wing commentators to express disappointment in Caitlin Clark’s recent comments about White privilege.
The Indiana Fever star was named Time’s Athlete of the Year. Despite having a sensational rookie year that saw the league regularly crushing ratings records during her games, much of the talk about Clark strayed far away from the sport itself. Through no fault of her own, Clark’s name was thrown into culture war discourse that often dealt with her race and sexuality; those talks often placed her in direct contrast of Chicago Sky star Angel Reese.
In the Time cover story published Tuesday, Clark briefly touched on the racial component of her popularity. The piece read:
Clark is cognizant of the racial underpinnings of her stardom. “I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” says Clark. “A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
According to Kelly, Clark was “all but apologizing for being White and getting attention.”
“Look at this,” Kelly said in a tweet. “She’s on the knee all but apologizing for being white and getting attention. The self-flagellation. The ‘oh pls pay attention to the black players who are REALY the ones you want to celebrate.’ Condescending. Fake. Transparent. Sad.”
Kelly wasn’t the only pundit to come out and criticize or flat-out misconstrue Clark’s words.
The outrage wasn’t limited to the media. In the days since the publication of the story, Clark’s Instagram page has been flooded with negative comments accusing her of “bowing” to the “woke mob.”
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