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Elle Duncan blames Caitlin Clark, her fans for media smear campaign while ignoring facts
On Tuesday, OutKick explained that the conversation around Caitlin Clark cannot shift toward basketball until the players and media members fueling the hysteria acknowledge their role in creating it.
Case in point: former ESPN host Elle Duncan.
Hours after our column was published, Duncan blamed the drama on — wait for it — Caitlin Clark and her fans. Who else? According to Duncan, it's Clark's responsibility to denounce fans who allegedly co-opt her name to serve their own agendas.
SOME WNBA PLAYERS ACT LIKE THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO RECEIVE MEAN SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGES
"I would love for it to be very clear to the people who think they are her fans but are using her, if she would say, ‘stop that sh--, I don’t want it, I’m tired of it.’ As opposed to what we’ve seen, which is ‘the media makes up these narratives, the media makes up this discourse,'" Duncan said on "The Sports Gossip Show" podcast.
Duncan was referring to Clark telling ESPN over the weekend that the media "controls the narrative" around her and is "sometimes so far out of touch with what is reality."
"The media highlights the stories, and they show it, but at the same time, like, the media did not make up that members of Congress are trying to get literal government intervention into whether you get fouled too hard," Duncan continued. "Like, this stuff has to stop."
Duncan's attempt to defend the media's role in the hostility surrounding Clark is especially telling, coming less than a week after USA Today published an op-ed arguing that Clark's style of play could get Black and queer women lynched like Emmett Till. No, that's not satire. The outlet really published that story.
You almost have to laugh at Duncan's proposed solution. In her view, the way to calm things down is for Clark to denounce the very fans defending her while players drive forearms into her throat and television analysts smear her character.
Moreover, Duncan completely ignores that Clark has repeatedly done exactly what Duncan accuses her of avoiding.
"People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It's disappointing. It's not acceptable," Clark said in 2024. "Treating every single woman in this league with the same amount of respect, I think, it's just a basic human thing that everybody should do."
Perhaps Duncan would prefer that Clark spend less time focusing on her game and more time responding to every manufactured controversy.
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New York Post columnist Kirsten Fleming elaborated on this point Wednesday:
"No matter how many times CC has said the thing everyone wants her to say, it's not enough. They demand more. They want her to respond to every drop of nonsense and give it way more oxygen than it deserves. It gives women a bad name. This isn't Bravo, it's hoops. Let her hoop."
Indeed.
Further, it's not as if Clark has a magic wand to stop random people on the internet from posting. By Duncan's logic, Elle Duncan is responsible for every racist threat directed at Clark on social media.
Later in the episode, Duncan dismisses Clark's supporters as "fake" because she assumes everyone approaches sports fandom the way she does: as an extension of culture and identity politics. Duncan has likely adopted fandom for players like Lamar Jackson, Angel Reese, or Jalen Hurts for reasons that extend well beyond sports.
But that is not how the average fan views sports.
Most fans are simply drawn to compelling, generational athletes. Caitlin Clark is one of them. So were Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Steph Curry, Serena Williams and Patrick Mahomes.
Duncan is telling on herself. It's called projection.
OutKick asked Duncan via text message why she discounts the media's role in the firestorm surrounding Caitlin Clark. She did not respond before publication. We will update this story if she does.
As we concluded earlier this week, the conversation around Caitlin Clark cannot return to basketball as long as these bad-faith actors remain at the center.
Racial idolaters like Duncan, Monica McNutt, Angel Reese, Jemele Hill, Nancy Armour and others will never admit fault because of how deeply their resentment of Clark's success runs.
The only way they can reconcile a straight White woman from Iowa transcending their niche sport is by insisting her popularity is merely a product of racism and privilege.
Just listen to the contempt with which Duncan speaks. She claims to care about the WNBA. Based on her commentary, she'd rather see the league revert to obscurity than succeed on the back of Caitlin Clark.
Minor league player gets smoked by a scooter-riding mascot in wild moment caught on camera
Sports history is full of strange incidents, but a minor league baseball player getting plowed into by an electric-scooter-riding, Santa hat-wearing mascot (in July, no less) has to immediately skyrocket toward the top of the list.
But that's precisely what happened to Oklahoma City Comets outfielder Alek Thomas on Saturday in Sacramento.
It was Christmas in July night at Sutter Health Park, home of the Sacramento River Cats (and the Athletics), and that's why the team's mascot, Dinger, was barreling around the warning track dressed as St. Nick.
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So there was a reason for the costume. It would be weird if there wasn't.
But, as Dinger was passing in front of the Comets dugout, Thomas hopped onto the field and right into the path of the scooter-ridin' mascot.
That was a way heavier hit than I was prepared for.
I was expecting one of those kind-of, sort-of collisions like I feel like I get into every time I go for a walk around my neighborhood (damn kids... buzzing around on their scooters like Elroy Jetson...).
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But, no, that was a complete and utter electric scooter demolition.
According to The New York Post, Thomas — who was traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Dodgers organization earlier this season — did not exit the game and was in the team's lineup just a few days later.
That's great news, but it seems like the most dangerous thing in sports right now is being in the Dodgers' minor league system.
Back in May, Dodgers prospect Kendall George of the Double-A Tulsa Drillers was injured when he had to jump out of the way of the team's bat dog.
So, from Triple-A down to Rookie League, stay safe out there, fellas.
You never what part of the minor league game night production is going to plow into you.
Fetterman brands new socialist favorite 'Pontiac Platner' after 'ogre' dig
Senator John Fetterman, D-Pa., branded Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdulrahman El-Sayed "Pontiac Platner" after the left-wing upstart called for the "ogre" to be put on a "pike" at a campaign event, in comments widely understood to reference the Pennsylvania lawmaker.
A recording from a Zoom call with donors obtained by Politico appeared to depict El-Sayed railing against those who have criticized his far-left policy platform, while singling out Fetterman and allegedly envisioning his head on a stake.
Fetterman later responded to CNBC’s Joe Kernen by blessing El-Sayed with a new nickname:
"I never worked out in male modeling, you know you could call me "Senator Shrek" — whatever — but this guy is really the Pontiac Platner, and now he’s really running to be, be the head of our emerging pro-Hamas wing here in the party," Fetterman said of El-Sayed.
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Pontiac is a well-known name in Michigan, stemming from the 18th-century Odawa chief to his namesake city and the now-defunct General Motors brand that was discontinued following the 2008 financial crisis.
El-Sayed has routinely criticized the Israeli government, and some of his policy positions overlap with those of Maine oyster farmer Graham Platner, who dropped his Senate bid after a series of allegations of sexual misconduct involving women.
"Politically, some of the things that he said or done are unacceptable to me. I'm not really sure what I've really done or voted for that that has offended the little guy so much," Fetterman went on.
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He added that Democrats are engaging in a "serious game" by allowing people in the "Bernie Sanders" wing of the party who "created the Platner disaster" some policy oxygen.
During El-Sayed’s Zoom call, the millennial left-winger spoke out specifically against Fetterman:
"In the interim need to be organizing downward and outward. So, a big pickup for us could be that John Fetterman seat [in Pennsylvania]. I’m like a lot of folks — they’re going to ‘F’ around and give me carte blanche to go take them out," El-Sayed said.
"Y’all came at me so now I get to come at you and primary people like John Fetterman, and I have no problem with that -- I'm looking forward to it."
El-Sayed dismissed the longstanding custom against primarying sitting senators, a norm recently broken in the GOP when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in their primary.
"Then, what happens is, ideally, you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message, and all of a sudden starts to sound a lot different," El-Sayed said.
The 6-foot-9 Fetterman took the insult in stride in his interview with Kernen, alluding to El-Sayed’s barb being his latest comparison to Mike Myers’ beloved green ogre that have cropped up in memes and elsewhere over the years.
"It's incumbent on us, Republican and Democrat [alike], to police your own ranks. So that's what I'm willing to do," Fetterman said, adding that he is warning fellow lawmakers against eliminating the filibuster in one example.
El-Sayed and Platner also share several policy positions, including support for a single-payer, government-run Medicare-for-all system, anti-corporate housing policies, higher taxes on wealthy Americans and alignment with Sanders, a Vermont socialist.
While El-Sayed says he is neither a Democratic Socialists of America member nor a democratic socialist, he has a history of speaking at DSA events.
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Between 2017 and 2020, El-Sayed attended and spoke at six events held by the DSA, including a 2019 fundraiser which he headlined. Despite the longstanding relationship, El-Sayed has distanced himself from the DSA when interviewed by the press and outright rejected being labeled as a "socialist."
"I'm not technically or practically DSA," El-Sayed told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. In an interview with CNN, he similarly stated that "I am not somebody who is a socialist. I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated."
Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman and El-Sayed for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report.
Escaped inmate's bid for freedom comes to crashing end after coordinated manhunt closes in
An escaped Nevada inmate's short-lived taste of freedom came to an abrupt end after a multi-agency search zeroed in on him with help from a helpful tipster, authorities said.
Video released by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office shows deputies finding 23-year-old Chase Orput lying shirtless on railroad tracks moments before taking the escaped inmate back into custody.
Authorities said he was last seen heading southwest while wearing a black-and-white striped inmate uniform, prompting an overnight search involving the Washoe County and Storey County sheriff's offices.
Authorities said a citizen from a nearby business recognized Orput near Interstate 80 and alerted the Sparks Police Department, whose drone helped direct officers and deputies to his location near mile marker 21.
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Orput was evaluated by medical personnel at the scene before being transported back to the Washoe County Detention Facility, where he is expected to face additional escape charges.
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office said Orput was located around 1 p.m. Tuesday, roughly 24 hours after he walked away from a Washoe County Sheriff's Office inmate work crew at about 1:30 p.m. Monday.
Authorities said the citizen's call gave officers a crucial lead, allowing Sparks police officers and Washoe County sheriff's deputies to quickly narrow in on Orput's location. Sparks police also deployed a drone to provide aerial support as deputies closed in.
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"This incident demonstrates the value of strong partnerships between our region's law enforcement agencies and the important role our community plays in public safety," Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said in a statement.
"We also want to thank the citizen who recognized Mr. Orput and immediately contacted law enforcement. Their quick actions contributed directly to this successful outcome."
The sheriff also thanked the Sparks Police Department and Storey County Sheriff's Office for assisting in the search.
Orput had been serving a 90-day jail sentence on misdemeanor charges for possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to show or maintain proof of insurance when he walked away from the inmate work crew, authorities said.
DHS eviscerates media for ‘absolute absurdity’ over concern about ‘worst of the worst’ activist judges list
A high-ranking Trump Department of Homeland Security official called out the "liberal media" for what he referred to as the "absolute absurdity" of its response to his series criticizing activist judges.
James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, posted a series on X last week, "Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition."
In his posts, Percival pointed to the risks that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents face while enforcing the law, saying some judges are working to "sabotage" those operations and put officers "at risk."
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After his posts, Percival said DHS was contacted by a Chicago Sun-Times reporter about whether "a social media post like this risk[s] additional threats" in the context of "ongoing threats to federal judges."
In response, Percival blasted the outlet in an X post in which he told followers, "Witness the absolute absurdity of the liberal media response to my new series, Worst of the Worst, District Judges."
Percival emphasized that "legitimate fact based critiques of judges and their rulings is fair game in a free society." He also noted that "the media has no issue with it if the judge is conservative."
Notably, conservative judges, including Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, have been the target of intense criticism from the left and, in some cases, violence. In 2022, Kavanaugh was the target of an assassination plot after an armed California man traveled to his home with a pistol, ammunition, zip ties, pepper spray, duct tape and burglary tools. Further, Barrett testified in a recent congressional hearing that she has had to wear a bulletproof vest in response to threats.
In his Worst of the Worst activist judges series, Percival called out district judges in the sanctuary jurisdictions of Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland and California.
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Percival said that, earlier this month, Northern District of Illinois Judge Matthew Kennelly, a Clinton appointee, ordered a nationwide pause on the termination of temporary protected status for migrants from Burma.
Percival wrote that Kennelly ordered the stay "even though these decisions are not subject to judicial review, even though we have been vindicated by the Supreme Court on TPS four times, and even though the Seventh Circuit summarily reversed him on the same issue only days before.
"This is judicial sabotage."
Percival wrote that Central District of California Judge Hernán Vera, a Biden appointee, recently "entered an order micromanaging DHS’s use of force policy with respect to violent anti-ICE agitators in Los Angeles."
Percival noted that the judge "described the agitators as ‘protesters’ and ‘legal observers,’ while describing DHS’s actions defending its personnel and property as ‘violent.’"
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Percival noted, "Agitators in Los Angeles have assaulted DHS employees, thrown objects at them, engaged in arson, and even tried to breech [sic] a federal facility.
"Judicial micromanagement of use of force in these contexts puts our officers at risk."
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In response, Sean Lewis, a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, told Fox News Digital that "the Code of Conduct calls on federal judges not to comment publicly on pending cases. It also requires them to decide each matter independently, based on the law and the facts — not political pressure, public reaction, partisan interests or fear of criticism."
Lewis added that "when someone disagrees with a ruling, the appropriate way to challenge it is through the appellate process."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Chicago Sun-Times and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for comment.
Sophie Cunningham fans allege Storm players, exec heckled girls during game over support of women's sports
A night of celebration devolved into a storm of chaos in Seattle.
Women who were at the Indiana Fever game against the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night told Fox News Digital that Storm players and even co-owner Celeste Keaton allegedly made mocking gestures and insults to girls who were there to celebrate Sophie Cunningham.
The Storm provided a statement to Fox News Digital apologizing for the conduct of the co-owner.
"We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night's game. We apologize that this happened. Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where every fan is treated with respect," the statement read.
The game became a flashpoint in the national debate over trans athletes when Cunningham supporters showed up to hold a rally outside Climate Pledge Arena in support of her recent statements on protecting women's sports.
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But then when her supporters went inside the arena, they allegedly faced shocking hostility, while fans in attendance relentlessly booed Cunningham from the moment she touched the ball.
The group included several teenage girls wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts and carrying handmade signs thanking Cunningham. Independent journalist Brandi Kruse, who helped organize the gathering, sat near the girls in courtside seats on the Storm’s end of the floor.
Kruse said fans began booing the girls when they stood up for photographs before the game and between quarters.
"Some of the fans were relentlessly booing at them," Kruse told Fox News Digital. "And I kind of turned around and said, ‘Look, they’re just teenage girls.’"
Kruse said she also personally witnessed "a couple" of Storm players direct thumbs-down gestures toward the girls. She said one of the gestures came when a girl wearing an XX-XY Athletics shirt danced during a break in the game.
"They were giving them thumbs down — like, to their faces," Kruse said.
Kruse did not hear the players say anything to the girls and could not identify which players made the gestures.
The night took a more emotional turn at halftime.
One of the 16-year-old girls had already texted Kruse that nearby fans were making comments about her shirt and Cunningham. Kruse later looked across the court and saw the girl sobbing in her front-row seat.
"I look over at halftime, and she’s sobbing," Kruse said. "They were so excited for those seats, like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of their favorite players. They stayed up the night before making signs."
Kruse said the girls then told her that an older woman associated with the Storm had approached them, yelled at them and called them "f---ing insane."
The girls later pointed out the woman sitting directly across from them beside Storm legend and team co-owner Sue Bird, according to Kruse. When Kruse alerted an arena security guard, she said the guard identified the woman as "one of the owners of the team."
Kruse later identified the woman as Keaton, who has previously been publicly identified as a member of the Storm’s ownership group.
Kruse said she pressed security to confront the woman, arguing that the alleged conduct violated the arena’s code of conduct. Climate Pledge Arena prohibits abusive or obscene language and says violators may be ejected.
"Had this been any other fan under any other circumstances who swore at and called some teenage girls ‘f---ing insane’ until they cried, they would’ve been ejected," Kruse said.
Security personnel instead recommended that Kruse contact the Storm’s front office after the game, she said.
Kruse also claimed that the girls were not forced to put down their signs in support of Cunningham, despite online rumors, but that they chose to put them down after the alleged harassment.
"The report that they told the girls to put those signs away is not true," Kruse said. "The girls put their signs away because of what happened with Celeste, and they just felt so scared and uncomfortable, they decided not to hold them anymore."
Kruse and rally organizer Amy Sousa said supporters deliberately left signs promoting Washington Initiative 638 outside because they understood that political signs were not permitted in the arena. The November ballot measure would prohibit students it defines as biologically male from competing in certain K-12 athletic events designated for female students.
However, the arena displayed "No Hate in Washington State" signs opposing the initiative on its video boards throughout the game, according to both women. Kruse said two security guards told her the Storm had made a one-night exception to its political-signage restriction for the opposition campaign.
Climate Pledge Arena’s publicly posted sign policy does not expressly prohibit political messages. It bars commercial, derogatory, insulting, obscene or culturally disrespectful signs and gives management discretion to reject signs it deems inappropriate.
Storm center Stefanie Dolson also arrived wearing a shirt that read "Trans rights are human rights." The team posted photographs of Dolson wearing the shirt on social media, and Dolson shared the post.
Kruse said Dolson later stood and applauded demonstratively when the "No Hate" signs appeared on the arena’s video board. She viewed the gesture as directed toward Cunningham’s supporters seated nearby.
The arena also erupted in loud boos when Cunningham entered the game and when she attempted her first free throws.
"Very loud," Kruse said. "They booed Sophie so loud. I was shocked."
Kruse claims that when the arena jumbotron showed fans wearing shirts in support of trans people, Dolson clapped demonstratively on the court.
Sousa, who organized the gathering outside Climate Pledge Arena, said she also heard the boos but stressed that the reception was not uniformly hostile.
"For the most part, I was happily surprised," Sousa told Fox News Digital. "I was surprised at how many people sitting in our area who were not of our group were thanking us for being there."
Sousa did not witness the alleged exchange with Keaton or the players’ gestures. She learned about those incidents afterward. However, she provided footage to Fox News Digital of an adult man confronting members of the group as they left the arena and repeatedly tell them to "take out the trash."
Sousa said the conduct inside the arena was worse than what supporters experienced at the pregame rally, where a few dozen Cunningham supporters and counterprotesters gathered. Supporters brought balloons, a life-size Cunningham cutout and signs with messages including "Thank you Sophie" and "With love is truth."
Sousa described the outside event as largely peaceful. Heather Weiner, a spokesperson for the opposing No Hate in Washington State campaign, also characterized the competing demonstrations as positive overall.
A separate video circulated on social media after the game appearing to show a person in Storm apparel spit or spray liquid at a fan wearing Fever gear during a confrontation.
On the court, Cunningham appeared unfazed. She scored 11 points, made three of her four 3-point attempts and collected five rebounds in Indiana’s 105-95 victory. Caitlin Clark scored 32 points, while Kelsey Mitchell added 28 as the Fever earned their fourth consecutive win.
"She seemed completely unfazed by any negative attention," Sousa said. "I felt like I saw a smile on her face the whole game."
Before the game, the Storm said it was aware of the planned demonstration and was "tracking it closely." The team said it remained committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all guests.
Storm head coach Sonia Raman addressed the rally after the game but did not discuss the allegations involving the girls.
"We always want to be an area where people feel welcome coming into this building," Raman said, adding that the organization coordinated with arena security. "From what I understand, that was successful."
The comments came before Kruse publicly detailed the allegations involving the teenagers.
The Fever, meanwhile, distanced the organization and Cunningham from the rally. A team public relations representative interrupted when head coach Stephanie White was asked about the gathering during her postgame press conference.
"Neither our organization nor Sophie had any knowledge of this demonstration and no contact with its organizers," the representative said.
The representative added that the Fever remained united around winning games and building its fan base before directing reporters back to basketball questions.
Neither Cunningham nor Clark was made available to reporters after the game. Mitchell and Monique Billings appeared beside White instead. When White was asked about the festivities and activism, she also said they were not aware of it and that their players were not in touch with the organizers.
Sousa said most of the Cunningham supporters still enjoyed the game. But the treatment of the girls overshadowed the celebration they had intended to give them.
"The hardest thing was those girls having their spirits crushed," Sousa said. "Adults should deal with adults. If you don’t like what I’m saying, talk to another adult."
"Why would you behave that way toward young women?"
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Storm for a response to the remainder of Souza and Kruse's allegations, but the team has only addressed the allegations against Keaton.
TSA officer sees alarming shapes on X-ray before stolen Civil War mystery unravels
A routine baggage screening at an Alabama airport sparked an explosive scare when TSA officers discovered stolen historical artifacts inside a passenger's bag.
The artifacts were found in the checked bag of a passenger going through Gulf Shores International Airport (JKA), about 45 miles southeast of Mobile, Alabama, on July 18.
The TSA said the artifacts — five Civil War-era cannonballs — were discovered by Justin Dupree, a lead TSA officer at the airport, according to a story published on the TSA site on July 24.
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While screening the bag, Dupree "saw what appeared to be a large opaque item on his X-ray screen, which he initially thought might be a medicine ball."
The five cannonballs, all of different sizes, were wrapped in paper towels.
The larger ones were "about the size of grapefruits," Dupree said.
"My first thought was, ‘I couldn’t see a fuse and need to get some help quick,’" Dupree said, according to the TSA.
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"I couldn’t see the entire item but was scared I might have been holding a live explosive."
He quickly alerted his supervisor, Richard Cash, a supervisory TSA officer.
Dupree, who's been a TSA officer for about four years, said he had "never seen anything quite this unique."
"I’ve seen inert grenades and training munitions but never an Indiana Jones-esque stolen artifact-type situation," Dupree said.
Cash analyzed the X-ray image and agreed with Dupree that the cannonballs could pose a danger.
Regional TSA explosives specialists were notified, and local police and deputies with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office responded to the airport.
Cash told TSA officials that he "had never seen anything like this."
"It was my first time dealing with a potentially live explosive, and it’s actually only the second incident we’ve had since JKA opened in May 2025," he said.
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The cannonballs were prohibited from flying because they were classified as artillery munitions and officers could not immediately determine whether they were inert, Cash said.
"With assistance from the [explosives expert] and law enforcement, and because we were unable to initially determine they were inert, they could have been dangerous to the aircraft," he said.
Officials later found that the cannonballs had been stolen from Fort Morgan, a historic fort in Gasque, Alabama.
The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital that a juvenile stole them from a storage area within the fort.
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The cannonballs "were being transported in the juvenile’s grandmother’s checked bag," officials said.
"Fort Morgan personnel were able to confirm the items as their property due to paint markings they apply to artifacts," the office added.
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"The grandmother stated that she did not know they were stolen. Fort Morgan’s director chose to not press charges, so there was no further action from us."
In a statement, TSA Alabama Federal Security Director Tara Corse said that she was "very proud of the great catch and teamwork by Officers Dupree and Cash."
"Even if inert and not active, travelers should avoid bringing weapons of any kind, including replicas, to the airport. They can cause security alerts, flight delays and safety concerns," said Corse.
Fox News Digital reached out to the TSA for further information and comment.
Caitlin Clark sends WNBA All-Star ratings soaring as 3-point contest audience falls without her
ESPN had plenty to celebrate after WNBA All-Star Weekend.
Saturday night’s WNBA All-Star Game averaged 3.2 million viewers on ABC, peaked at 3.3 million and became the second-most-watched edition of the event in league history.
The audience increased 44% from last year, when Caitlin Clark attended the game but didn't play because of an injury.
This year, Clark returned to the court.
One night earlier, however, she wasn't part of the WNBA 3-Point Contest after declining an invitation, and she wasn't among the participants in the WNBA’s new Shooting Stars event.
That audience, predictably, went in the opposite direction.
After OutKick and Fox News Digital asked ESPN for the figures, a network spokesperson said Friday’s telecast averaged 1.17 million viewers on ESPN and peaked at 1.35 million.
The average declined approximately 11% from the 1.318 million viewers who watched last year’s competition.
Clark didn't compete last year either, but she was expected to make her 3-Point Contest debut before withdrawing because of an injury just one day before the broadcast.
ESPN publicly celebrated Saturday’s strong audience. It also promoted the 1.8 million viewers who watched WNBA Countdown, which featured a sit-down interview with Clark before the game.
But its ratings graphic did not include Friday’s average or peak audience.
ESPN didn't explain why.
The 1.17 million figure is quite solid for a league that went 16 years without drawing a seven-figure audience before Clark arrived on the scene.
It was the second-largest audience on record for the WNBA’s Friday All-Star events, approximately 68% higher than the 695,000 viewers who watched in 2024 and more than four times the 288,000-viewer audience from 2023.
Still, the number declined.
And ESPN, which found space in its graphic for Saturday’s game, its peak audience, the year-over-year increase, the game’s historical ranking and even the pregame show, didn't publicly mention it.
Networks promote numbers that make their programming look good, obviously.
But the selective celebration produced a revealing contrast between the WNBA events in which Clark participated and the one she didn't.
Saturday’s game drew roughly one million more viewers than the 2.19 million who watched the 2025 All-Star Game, when Clark remained on the bench with a groin injury.
Last year’s audience was still the second-largest in event history at the time, but it fell 36% from the record set in 2024.
This year, Clark returned to the court and the audience surged 44%.
Apparently, there is a meaningful difference between having Caitlin Clark in the building and having Caitlin Clark actually playing basketball. Who would have thought?
The 2026 audience also finished only about 7% below the record 3.442 million viewers who watched the 2024 All-Star Game.
That comparison makes this year’s number look even more impressive, although it requires substantial context.
The 2024 game wasn't a traditional All-Star exhibition.
Clark and Angel Reese, whose college rivalry helped transform women’s basketball viewership, played on the same team for the first time.
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Their WNBA All-Star team faced the U.S. Olympic roster after Clark’s controversial exclusion from Team USA, creating an obvious revenge storyline.
The players also treated the game seriously. Team WNBA defeated Team USA, 117-109, in what doubled as a tune-up before the Paris Olympics.
This year’s game had none of that.
It used a more conventional All-Star format, lacked the Olympic controversy and featured the limited defensive effort that has become common in professional All-Star showcases.
Yet it still attracted 3.2 million viewers.
There's also an important Nielsen caveat because the 2024, 2025 and 2026 audiences were not all measured under the same system.
Nielsen expanded its out-of-home measurement to cover 100% of the contiguous U.S. television population beginning in early 2025, up from 66% previously. That change is especially relevant to live sports, which attract substantial viewing in bars, restaurants and other communal locations.
This year’s numbers were also reported using Nielsen’s newer Big Data + Panel methodology, which became the standard after last year’s All-Star Weekend.
That means neither the comparison with the 2024 record nor the year-over-year comparison with 2025 is perfectly apples-to-apples.
Still, the methodology changes don't diminish the most obvious result.
Clark didn't play in last year’s All-Star Game.
She played this year.
The audience increased by roughly one million viewers.
Friday’s comparison is more complicated, but the decline remains newsworthy because it's important not to treat the "Clark effect" as an on-off switch.
WNBA events benefit from Clark’s presence even when she isn't competing.
Indiana Fever games have continued to produce strong audiences while Clark is injured because viewers remain interested in her team, her status and whether she appears on the broadcast.
A Fever game without Clark on the court is still a Fever game. Those broadcasts routinely outperform games featuring two teams with no connection to her.
All-Star Weekend works similarly.
Clark didn't compete Friday, but the event remained attached to a weekend whose central attraction was Clark. She was in Chicago, appeared throughout the weekend and was scheduled to play in Saturday’s game.
So the Shooting Stars event and 3-Point Contest still benefited from the same halo that helps Fever games when she is sidelined.
Even with that advantage, and despite the broader Nielsen system used this year, the audience declined from 1.318 million to 1.17 million.
ESPN’s decision to omit Friday’s figures becomes more interesting with that backdrop.
The network had Friday’s average and peak audiences available but chose not to include either figure in its public ratings graphic.
Instead, ESPN celebrated 3.2 million viewers for a game featuring Clark, a 3.3 million peak and 1.8 million for a pregame show featuring a sit-down interview with Clark.
It provided Friday’s 1.17 million average and 1.35 million peak only after OutKick and Fox News Digital requested them.
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The WNBA continues to insist that its growth story is bigger than one player.
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But All-Star Weekend provided another reminder of the hierarchy.
When Caitlin Clark is around, the WNBA benefits.
When Caitlin Clark actually plays, the audience changes entirely.
Halperin compares Fauci diary media coverage to Biden's mental decline, calls it another cover-up
Journalist Mark Halperin, host of "2Way," likened the mainstream media coverage of Anthony Fauci's diaries to the press' coverage of former President Joe Biden's mental acuity on Wednesday, and said they were present at the creation of the cover-up.
"I could spend this entire hour talking to you about the media coverage of this thing," Halperin said during a conversation with Larry O'Connor and Kevin Walling during "The Morning Meeting" podcast. If you read the stories in the so-called mainstream press about the Fauci Diaries, you will see an exact parallel to the Biden acuity situation. They were present at the creation of the cover-up. They were present, engaged in non-stop bias, pro-Fauci, anti-Trump, and they're — they're just sustaining it."
"There's no consciousness raising," he continued. "There seems to be no awareness. And this goes across a range of things. It goes across the question of whether Dr. Fauci lied, whether Dr. Fauci helped fund the gain-of-function research, and it also goes to Dr. Fauci's insane obsession with fame and celebrity. There's no other way to describe it."
Fauci faced questions from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul on Wednesday over his diary entries, which Paul released earlier this week. Fauci repeatedly refused to answer questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
FAUCI'S NEWLY RELEASED COVID DIARIES REVEAL BIZARRE FIXATION ON FAME AS PANDEMIC DEATHS MOUNTED
"There's so much rich stuff here and — and Fauci's obsession with celebrity," Halperin said, again calling out Fauci's seeming obsession with celebrities. "He’s obsessed. He talks about Julia Roberts. He talks about Cher. He talks about covers. He talks openly in his diaries about how people blocked him from TV. And he acts like being blocked from a TV appearance is like someone trying to strangle him underwater. OK, this guy has a problem. And, by the way, if you’ve covered him in the last 50 years when he’s been in Washington, this comes as no surprise."
Halperin specifically called out CNN's Brian Stelter and his note about the news in his "Reliable Sources" newsletter.
"While MAGA media ridicules Fauci’s 'obsession' with fame, the diary entries read more like someone documenting the objectively wild speed at which a government immunologist became internationally famous," Stelter wrote.
"Brian Stelter, this should be Christmas for him," Halperin continued. "This should be the greatest day of his life to get to write about all the connections between Fauci and the media here and the ethics involved in people secretly being friends with him and helping him and then praising him on TV. Brian Stelter in his career has written many corrupt sentences to protect the liberal side of the house, many."
When reached for comment, CNN referred Fox News Digital to what Stelter wrote in the newsletter on Monday.
LEGACY MEDIA COVERS ANTHONY FAUCI DIARY BY CRITICIZING DONALD TRUMP INSTEAD OF FAUCI'S DISHONESTY
Halperin asked co-host Larry O'Conner, "Can you think of a more extreme example than that characterization of these diaries?"
O'Connor agreed and added, "The narcissism he displays in his constant focus on what celebrity or what media outlet is saying wonderful things about him is really only valuable in juxtaposition with his admissions to what was really going on with this pandemic that he withheld from the American people."
Fauci opened up about his relationships with various media personalities in a series of diary entries, including CNN's Jake Tapper, who was mentioned 41 times.
According to the diary, Tapper texted Fauci to mock rival cable news hosts and other doctors. On one occasion, Tapper called to check on Fauci after an appearance on his show irked Trump supporters.
"Jake wanted to make sure the interview did not cause me any problems," Fauci wrote on April 13, 2020.
In July 2020, Fauci gushed that he was forming a friendship with Tapper.
"Had dinner over Jake Tapper and Jen Tapper’s home in DC. Terrific couple. Friendship building," Fauci wrote, according to the diary.
Later that month, Fauci wrote that he "gave Jake some questions to ask" pediatrician Brett Giroir during an interview on CNN’s "State of the Union." But Tapper would later express frustration, waking Fauci up in the process.
"Tapper woke me up at 11:23 AM (I went to bed early) furius [sic] at POTUS for tweeting about the fact that Jake severly [sic] questioned Brett Giroir on SOTU CNN show today. Jake was really pissed at the craziness of it all," Fauci wrote.
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Other CNN personalities were also mentioned, including Dana Bash and Andrea Mitchell.
Former NBC host Chuck Todd and ABC's George Stephanopoulos were mentioned as well.
Fox News' Brian Flood and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Schumer dodges question on whether DSA belongs in Democratic Party
As the Democratic Party's socialist wing racks up primary victories, one top Democrat is emphasizing that the party remains a big tent.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., dodged a question from Fox News on Wednesday about whether the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) platform has a place in the Democratic Party.
"[The] bottom line is Democrats from one end of the spectrum to the other are going to be working to defeat Trump, to bring down costs, to go after his corruption and to end the chaos," Schumer replied at a leadership news conference.
The Senate minority leader did not elaborate on whether he agreed with the DSA’s call to abolish the Senate.
WATCH: HOUSE DEMS DODGE QUESTIONS ON SOCIALIST AGENDA THAT THREATENS TO ABOLISH KEY INSTITUTIONS
The Senate has frequently drawn criticism from socialists for giving equal power to all states and its 60-vote threshold requiring bipartisan consensus to pass most legislation.
The Senate abolition proposal is part of the DSA's recent platform, "Workers Deserve More," which also calls for scrapping the presidency and the Supreme Court in favor of representatives "chosen by" and "subordinate to" a unicameral Congress.
In the manifesto, the far-left group also calls for abolishing the police and prisons, defunding the Department of War, and dismantling capitalism.
The exchange comes as Schumer’s path to political power is increasingly colliding with the socialist movement's growing strength.
After upsetting Democratic incumbents in New York City and Colorado this year, the DSA is attempting to keep its winning streak alive by electing more socialist candidates in upcoming primaries in Missouri and Michigan.
If Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left candidate who has rejected the "socialist" label, wins the hotly contested Democratic primary, Schumer’s hopes of becoming Senate majority leader could depend on his victory in November.
The New York Democrat has thrown his support behind Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who has consolidated support among the party’s establishment wing, in the key Senate race.
Schumer could also face a primary threat from the Democratic Party’s far-left flank if he seeks reelection in 2028.
DSA MEMBER LEADS DEM PRIMARY IN MIDWEST BATTLEGROUND BUT TRAILS LIKELY GOP NOMINEE: POLL
Some moderate Democrats have called on the party to take a harder line in rejecting the DSA.
"This isn’t a big tent—it’s anarchy," Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., wrote on social media earlier this week. "Why can’t Dems call out the DSA?"
DSA co-chair Megan Romer affirmed the group supports many of these policy ideas during a recent interview with "Fox News Sunday."
"[You're advocating for] abolish[ing] the Senate?" Fox News’ Shannon Bream asked.
"True," Romer responded.
"Replace the presidency and Supreme Court as we now know them?" Bream followed up.
"Yep," Romer replied.
"Abolish ICE?" Bream pressed.
"Absolutely," Romer said.
Whether Democratic leaders embrace or distance themselves from the DSA will be a defining question heading into the November midterms.