Sunny Hostin Says Caitlin Clark’s Hype Is Tied to ‘White Privilege’

While Sunny Hostin is happy to celebrate what Caitlin Clark has done for women’s basketball, she argued there’s far more to the story.

“I do think that there is a thing called pretty privilege,” Hostin, 55, said on the Wednesday, May 22, episode of The View. “There is a thing called white privilege. There is a thing called tall privilege. We have to acknowledge that.”

Clark, 22, the all-time collegiate basketball leading scorer during her time at Iowa, made her highly anticipated WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever on May 14. In the aftermath, former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill told the Los Angeles Times in a story published Sunday, May 20, that Clark’s race has “played a role in her popularity.”

Hostin agreed, saying, “I do think she is more relatable to more people because she’s white, because she’s attractive.”

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In addition, Hostin claimed that Clark’s sexual preference — she has been dating boyfriend Connor McCaffrey since August 2023 — also aided in the basketball star’s meteoric rise. 

“Unfortunately, there still is that stigma against the LGBTQ+ community,” Hostin said. “Seventy percent of the WNBA is Black, a third of the players are in the LGBTQ+ community. We have to do something about that stigma in this country. I think that people have a problem with basketball-playing women that are lesbians.”

At that point, The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg cut in and teased Hostin about her stance. 

“You can’t tell a lesbian unless she tells you she’s a lesbian!” Goldberg, 68, said. “It’s not like you look over and go, ‘Oh, there’s one!’ You don’t know!”

Goldberg passionately defended Clark, saying Hill’s reduction of Clark’s accomplishments “bothered me a lot” and argued Clark is getting all of her attention and endorsement deals because “she’s a damn good player.”

“It doesn’t matter whether she’s straight or gay,” Goldberg said. “Ain’t nobody cryin’!”

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Earlier in the segment, Goldberg — who has long been a vocal supporter of women’s sports — articulated how some of the dialogue surrounding Clark and race veers down a potentially slippery slope. 

“When people say stuff like that, that’s like people saying, ‘Oh, you only got into this Ivy League college because you’re Black,’” Goldberg explained. “This girl earned this. There are great players, but nobody else has done this.”

Clark and the Fever return to action Wednesday, May 22, at 10 p.m. ET against the Seattle Storm, available to stream on Prime Video.