Hear Shane Gillis' Caitlin Clark Joke That Had the ESPYs Audience Uncomfortable

Shane Gillis took the stage at the ESPYs tonight as the show's host, and the comedian made the sports world the butt of his jokes.

There were a number of quips aimed at various attendees and major sports figures, and while social media had varying opinions about his barbed humor, the audience didn't seem super receptive. Numerous jokes arrived to tepid, often-uncomfortable laughter, with Gillis repeatedly telling the audience to lighten up. There was perhaps no better example of this dynamic than his joke about the WNBA's Caitlin Clark.

While the ESPYs named her WNBA Player of the Year, Gillis decided to include her in his opening monologue. The first joke was relatively tame.

"It's a big year for the WNBA. I love Caitlin Clark," he said. "Caitlin Clark, she and I have a lot in common. We're both whites from the midwest who have nailed a bunch of threes."

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He then winced reading the follow-up from the teleprompter, before saying: "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."

His joke comes just after Clark had a heated confrontation with a referee during a recent Indiana Fever game against the Connecticut Sun. She also received a flagrant foul earlier this season for a much-discussed altercation with Chicago Sky's Angel Reese.

Gillis also cracked jokes about Shedeur Sanders, Jeffery Epstein, Donald Trump, and more.

Watch his joke below:

Hear Shane Gillis' Caitlin Clark Joke That Had the ESPYs Audience Uncomfortable first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 17, 2025