Gregg Doyel, a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, made an “absurd” apology to Caitlin Clark after his inappropriate comment during the WNBA Conference.
Earlier this morning, we reported the awkward interaction between Caitlin Clark and Gregg Doyel. Doyel, who went on to question Clark, started their discussion by making a heart-hand gesture to her — something she does to her family members during games.
“Real quick: Let me do this,” Doyel said while forming the gesture.
“Yeah,” Clark said with an awkward laugh. “I do that at my family after every game,” she said, referencing the heart-hands. “So, it’s pretty cool.”
To make matters even worse, Doyel told Clark, “Let’s start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine.” The entire room was filled with awkward tension and nervous laughs as the conference continued.
Countless professionals and fans alike rallied on X (previously Twitter) to express their disgust toward Doyel’s actions and words.
In fact, a female sports journalist Shireen Ahmed shared her own take on the matter:
“Almost every one of my women colleagues & students in sport media and sports journalism are sharing that clip of Gregg Doyel and Caitlin Clark with disgust. We are rightly furious and fed up. His creds should be revoked and offered to an unentitled journalist who respects women.”
Reporter Apologizes for Awkward WNBA Comment to Caitlin Clark
Following his “creepy” comment, Doyel turned to X to apologize for making Clark uncomfortable.
He also wrote a column in the Indianapolis Star specifically to apologize to Clark.
“I’m devastated to realize I’m part of the problem. I screwed up Wednesday during my first interaction with No. 1 overall draft pick Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever,” he wrote.
Doyel added that the occurrence was “the most me thing ever,” stating that he’s had many similar awkward interactions with male athletes and other professionals.
“What I’ve learned is that I need to be more aware about how I talk to people – not just athletes,” he continued.
He then said that he’d convinced himself the comment was harmless and didn’t realize its impact until a woman he “deeply respected” reminded him that Clark is a “young woman, and you don’t talk to a young woman the same as you would a young man.'”
According to Doyel, his “heart dropped” when he heard that.
“Because now I saw it: After years of being so sure I was on the right side of these arguments, I was now on the wrong side, and for the oldest reason known to man and woman: Ignorance.”
“In my haste to be clever, to be familiar and welcoming (or so I thought), I offended Caitlin and her family,” he concluded. “Caitlin Clark, I’m so sorry.”
Gregg Doyel Slammed for ‘Absurd’ Apology to Caitlin Clark
Though Doyel might have been well-intentioned with his apology, many accused him of writing his column just to get clicks.
Numerous individuals responded to his column on X. One person stated, “Gregg, all due respect, your apology continues to miss a big part of the point and ‘that’s just the way I am’ is not an excuse for anyone above the age of 5 years old.”
Another person wrote, “Just stop, man. Stop. Writing a column for hits after issuing an apology on Twitter doesn’t say much about your sincerity. It says, ‘I know this column will probably get lots of hits since everyone is angry at my actions.’ Stop.”
A third X user chimed in with a more serious take: “My god dude. It’s wasn’t the hand gesture, although that alone is cringe worthy. You essentially told a woman half your age ‘show me affection and we’ll get along just fine’. Thats not ‘conversational and familiar’. That’s sexual harassment.”