RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Fox News — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 2 sourcesChicago Sky's DiJonai Carrington spiraled on social media over the weekend, accusing her ex-girlfriend of cheating on her with multiple women around the WNBA .
"Since mfs wanna be funny today ima be hilarious! yes, nalyssa cheated on me with Deja Kelly and Aaliyah Nye +++ many more," Carrington posted on X.
According to ESPN commentator Monica McNutt's logic, there is one person to blame for this alleged WNBA hit-it-and-quit-it scandal. Caitlin Clark . Who else?
McNutt maintains that Clark has a moral obligation to uplift the WNBA "sisterhood," even when it has nothing to do with her.
On Sunday, McNutt insisted Clark is to blame for the negative headlines surrounding the WNBA because she lacks "accountability" and "self-awareness."
In other words, Clark is the reason USA Today compared her flopping on the court to the lynching of Black people and falsely accused her of skipping an All-Star event to get her hair done. Both of those headlines originated last week.
Apparently, Clark is also to blame for people noticing Black women on the court driving their fists into her throat and raking her eye with their fingernails.
Again, this is all according to the logic of Monica McNutt.
McNutt using her ESPN platform to smear and belittle Clark is hardly new. She previously accused little White girls of favoring Clark because of racism and pretended as if obscure WNBA players are more famous than Clark. However, the fact that she is still doing it is quite telling.
In case you weren't aware — because apparently McNutt isn't — ESPN is done with the racial idolatry, wokeness, and buffoonery that defined much of the network over the past decade. Here are some of the names ESPN has moved on from in recent years: Mark Jones, Bomani Jones, Sarah Spain, Kenny Mayne, Clinton Yates, Jalen Rose, Israel Gutierrez, Michelle Beadle and Katie Nolan.
Add Ryan Clark and Cam Newton to that list. ESPN ended relationships with both of them last week — as OutKick first reported — as part of a round of talent layoffs and nonrenewals.
Chiney Ogwumike, McNutt's fellow Mean Girl and Caitlin Clark adversary, got the hint. Last Friday, she admitted her coverage of Clark went too far and needed to recenter the conversation back to basketball.
"The ESPN Purge (firing of Ryan Clark) is showing initial signs of success. They're already walking back their racial idiocy on air. Amazing. They must've threatened them with bringing me back for a third time," Jason Whitlock joked about Ogwumike's sudden shift.
McNutt didn't get the hint. And for many of the same reasons ESPN parted ways with Ryan Clark, McNutt should be ESPN's next casualty.
We don't say that because of her political views or her opinions. We say it because she is undermining the network's credibility for selfish reasons. We assume those reasons include building her brand on Bluesky and indulging her own personal biases.
RYAN CLARK MADE IT TOO DIFFICULT FOR ESPN TO JUSTIFY KEEPING HIM AFTER YEARS OF CONTROVER
McNutt doesn't just have issues with Clark. She also has issues with Taylor Swift. During the NBA Finals, McNutt was caught on a hot mic sneering at Swift , accusing her of bandwagoning the New York Knicks. In actuality, Swift has been a Knicks fan for years and attended games even during their losing seasons.
Why exactly McNutt has such a snarky view of Swift is unclear. Though perhaps you could take a guess, considering her equally snarky views of Caitlin Clark, little White girls, and Sophie Cunningham.
Hmm.
A tearful Ryan Clark, utterly devoid of accountability, called himself the "best analyst in the world" while addressing his firing last Friday. While that's subjective, we acknowledge Clark was at least capable as a sports analyst. McNutt is not.
Last August, she hosted an NFL preview show with Stephen A. Smith and did not know who Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders was.
Watch below:
Blame Caitlin Clark for that, too.
Let's recall a few paragraphs we wrote last week explaining why ESPN could no longer justify employing Ryan Clark.
We first cited the reasons to cut him: Clark made around $2 million per year, roughly four times what the average NFL analyst earns. He was unpopular with much of the audience. He had a strained reputation with staffers and a mixed one among on-air colleagues. Over the past year alone, he generated a string of negative headlines for ESPN, including shaming Robert Griffin III for marrying a White woman and making dubious claims about police officers involved in what was ultimately ruled a suicide. He also created both on- and off-air tension by belittling Peter Schrager, around whom ESPN is now building a new television show, because Schrager never played football. Clark also had a habit of injecting race into discussions where it simply didn't belong .
And then the reasons to keep him: None .
We then explained why this dynamic is not exclusive to Clark.
As large as their egos may be, the overwhelming majority of employees at ESPN — or any major television network — are simply filling airtime. They are interchangeable. There is no meaningful financial difference between having one analyst instead of another. That's not to say these analysts and reporters aren't good at their jobs. Many are. It's simply that their value above replacement is essentially nonexistent. The same is true across corporate America. The gap between good and indispensable is significant.
Employees are inherently replaceable. Across corporate America, employers replace workers every day without suffering a single quantifiable disadvantage.
Most employees understand this and, accordingly, don't create headaches. When your value is expendable, every problem you create becomes another reason you aren't worth the trouble. Yet so many current and former ESPN employees can't seem to understand that.
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By definition, Monica McNutt provides nothing to ESPN.
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