Caitlin Clark Faces Online Backlash for Walking Out with Morgan Wallen at Concert

Caitlin Clark's surprise walkout with Morgan Wallen at his concert Saturday night in Indianapolis drew a predictable reaction online.

Race commentator Van Lathan Jr. posted 'lol' above a clip of Clark and Wallen, sparking viral attention. ESPN guest writer Jayson Buford called Clark 'uncool' in a Substack post. 'Caitlin Clark is beloved by most people despite her proximity to the type of whiteness that is inherently scary,' Buford wrote. 'So why did she walk out with Morgan Wallen? It's so blatantly corny. Just be cool.'

Fox News Digital gathered other reactions, such as a user replying to a Barstool post, 'She walks out with a racist? Not a good look.' Similar comments continued nearly two days later.

The outrage ties in part to a 2021 recording of Wallen using a racial slur. Critics like Lathan show disdain for Clark, casting her as a villain in the culture war against a straight woman reaching superstardom in women's basketball.

Wallen ranks among the country's biggest musical stars. Few would turn down a chance to walk out with him, including athletes both Black and white. Patrick Mahomes, Myles Garrett, Marshawn Lynch and Mike Tyson all did so on Wallen's tour without backlash.

No similar fury arose when players and coaches embraced musicians with darker pasts. Chris Brown is a serial abuser, yet Paige Bueckers and Coach Dawn Staley faced no backlash for attending his concerts and posing with him last summer.

Asked why he seemed more offended by Clark with Wallen than Staley and Bueckers with Brown, Lathan blocked the questioner on X. Lathan appears to view word crimes more seriously than violent crimes like Brown's assault on Rihanna.

Clark's detractors are bitter grifters appealing to racially charged internet corners. Clark has done nothing in her career to insert herself into racism discussions. Some Black players and media members cannot accept her as basketball's most popular woman and project racism onto her.

Her walkout with Wallen served as another excuse to vilify her along racial lines.