Caitlin Clark’s surprise walkout with Morgan Wallen at his concert Saturday night in Indianapolis drew a predictable reaction online.
Race idolatrous commentator Van Lathan Jr. stoked the flames with a viral post, writing “lol” above a clip of Clark and Wallen.
ESPN guest writer Jayson Buford went further, calling Clark “uncool” in a Substack post following the appearance.
“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.”
Inherently scary, huh?
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark waits to check into a game against the Dallas Wings on May 9, 2026, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. (Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire)
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Fox News Digital compiled other notable reactions, including one user replying to a Barstool post, “She walks out with a racist? Not a good look.”
Nearly two days later, similar comments are still surfacing. It’s pathetic and desperate. It also reeks of a double standard.
The outrage is, in part, tied to a recording of Wallen using a racial slur in 2021. In reality, though, the backlash reflects the disdain critics like Lathan have for Clark. They want to cast her as a villain in the culture war to satisfy their contempt for a straight woman reaching superstardom in women’s basketball.
Wallen is one of the country’s biggest musical stars. When given the chance, few people would turn down the opportunity to walk out with him during a concert, including most athletes, both Black and White. Patrick Mahomes, Myles Garrett, Marshawn Lynch and Mike Tyson have all done so during Wallen’s tour. Yet there was no such outrage when they did it.
Morgan Wallen performs during the 16th Annual Darius and Friends St. Jude Benefit at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., on June 2. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images for ABA)
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We also can’t help but notice the lack of fury from the hall monitors of morality when players and coaches have embraced other musicians, those with darker pasts than Wallen.
Chris Brown is a serial abuser. And yet, Paige Bueckers and Coach Dawn Staley didn’t face any backlash for attending his concerts and posing with him last summer.
We asked Lathan why he seemed more offended by Clark walking out with Wallen than by Staley and Bueckers celebrating Brown. He responded by blocking me on X. Apparently, Lathan is among those who view word crimes (Wallen using a slur) more seriously than violent crimes (Brown violently assaulting Rihanna).
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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark reacts to fans before the WNBA All-Star basketball game in Indianapolis on July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, file)
Put bluntly, Clark’s detractors are not serious people. They are bitter grifters trying to appeal to racially charged corners of the internet.
Caitlin Clark has done nothing in her career to insert herself into discussions about racism. The reality is that some Black players and media members cannot accept that she is the most popular woman in basketball, and so they project their own racism onto her.
The response to her walking out with Morgan Wallen was just another excuse to try to vilify her along racial lines.
