ESPYs Host Takes Shot At Black Women In Unfunny Caitlin Clark Joke

Source: Christopher Polk / Getty

Comedian Shane Gillis’ opening monologue at the 2025 ESPYs didn’t land the way he might’ve hoped, but it was one joke aimed at Black women that had many people offended.

During the opening segment at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Gillis thought it would be funny to poke fun at the ongoing feud in the media between WNBA star Caitlin Clark and Black women, who built the league she now stars in.

“When Caitlin Clark retires from the WNBA, she’s going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most: fist-fighting Black women,” he told the audience, which awkwardly laughed at the joke.

Many social media users didn’t find the joke funny.

This isn’t Gillis’ first time being bashed for making offensive jokes.

In 2019, the Tires actor was fired from the cast of Saturday Night Live for making racist remarks before he made his debut on the sketch comedy show.

Gillis was let go just days after it was announced that he would join the show after a clip of him using an anti-Asian slur on his podcast resurfaced on X,” HuffPost reports.

Gillis issued an apology, claiming that his job as a comedian “requires risks.”

“I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss. If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses,” The Hollywood Reporter reports. “I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said.”

Gillis added: “My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.”

The WNBA has been the subject of several racist incidents, most recently after the announcement that Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese would grace the cover of NBA 2K26 WNBA edition and someone thought it was funny to replace her photo with that of a monkey. The incident might have gone unnoticed had former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III not retweeted the image.

Even Clark has called out the “trolls” who continuously post racist memes and statements online.

“It’s definitely upsetting. Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism – hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats. Those aren’t fans, those are trolls, and it’s a real disservice to the people in our league, the organization, the WNBA,” Clark said in September 2023.

See social media’s outrage over Gillis’ joke below. 

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