Megan Rapinoe calls Christine Brennan's questions 'racist'

Soccer star Megan Rapinoe has accused sportswriter Christine Brennan of being “racist” following controversy over Brennan's questions to WNBA player DiJonai Carrington.

“When I heard it, obviously my internal reaction at first was like, this isn't good, this doesn't feel good,” Rapinoe said on the “A Touch More” podcast.

According to The New York Post, Rapino was referring to the controversy over Brennan's “questioning” of Sun guard Carrington after Carrington “catched the eye of Fever star Caitlin Clark in the first-round playoff opener.”

“This honestly feels racist. “This feels like putting DiJonai in an impossible situation,” Rapinoe said on the podcast.

On your Here is your answer.”

“When you somehow hit Caitlin, did you intend to hit her in the eye?” Brennan asked. “And if so, could you just – if not one way or the other, could you talk about what happened in that piece?”

Carrington replied: “I don’t even know why I plan on punching someone in the eye. That doesn't make any sense to me at all. But no, I didn't. I didn't know that I had actually hit her. I tried to pass the ball and I guess I succeeded and beat them. So it's obviously never intentional. That's not even the type of player I am. So yeah.”

Christine Brennan asked DiJonai Carrington if she laughed at the incident

Video of the incident shows Clark holding her face after Carrington made contact while tackling the ball.

Brennan questioned Carrington further, saying, “Later in the game it looked like they caught you laughing about it.”

“No, I just told you that I didn’t even know I hit her. So I can’t laugh at something I didn’t know happened,” Carrington said.

According to The Indianapolis Star, Clark later said she did not believe the eye poke was intentional. She suffered a black eye from the incident, The Star reported.

According to the Washington Post, Brennan is writing a book about Clark.

In a statement on Instagram, the Women's National Basketball Players Association condemned Brennan and called for her credentials to be revoked.

“This week was dedicated to celebrating and recognizing A'ja, Caitlin, DiJonai and Napheesa for their hard work and truly exceptional achievements throughout the season. We didn't want to diminish their successes or dim the spotlight that put them in the spotlight. You deserve this focus and celebration,” the statement said. “But we will now use this moment to speak up for them and the rest of our members. Every single one of them. Because we call BS.”

“To unprofessional media representatives like Christine Brennan: You are not deceiving anyone. This so-called interview in the name of journalism was a blatant attempt to entice a professional athlete to participate in a narrative that is false and aimed at stoking racist, homophobic and misogynistic hate speech on social media. You cannot hide behind your time in office,” the statement continued.

“Instead of demonstrating the cornerstones of journalistic ethics such as integrity, objectivity and a fundamental commitment to the truth, you have chosen to be indecent and downright disingenuous. You have abused your privileges and do not deserve the credentials issued to you,” the statement continued.

“And you are certainly not entitled to interviews with the members of this union or other athletes in the sport. “These qualifications mean you can ask anything, but they also mean you know the difference between what you should and what you shouldn’t,” it says. “We see you. Our relationship with the media is delicate and we will continue to strengthen it as the media is vital to the growth of the game. Nobody knows this better than us. But the players are entitled to better. You are entitled to professionalism.”

The statement concluded: “We are calling on the USA Today Network to review its Code of Ethics for newsrooms and address what we believe is a violation of several core principles, including the pursuit and reporting of the truth .” USA Today Sports should explain why a reporter with clear bias and ulterior motives was assigned to cover the league. We also urge the league to review its policies and take action to prevent such issues and protect the integrity of the game and its players.” The statement was signed by Terri Carmichael Jackson, executive director.

Christine Brennan defended herself in a podcast

Brennan defended herself on another podcast.

“I was definitely surprised,” Brennan said on Sarah Spain’s “Good Game” podcast.

“I didn’t take it lightly. I would never take it lightly. I was surprised to hear from the players' association. . . “I thought the fact that they wanted to ban me was a complete overreaction,” she said.

“I think many, many people in journalism thought exactly the same thing we saw in the columns and responses, and that's fine and that's encouraging to me. If people think it's OK and I should be banned, of course they can say that, it's a free country,” Brennan said on the podcast.

Brennan told The Washington Post that her questions were “journalism 101.”

“I’ve done this my entire career,” she said, according to The Post, “and I think every other journalist has done this their entire career.”

“We reject the notion that the interview perpetuated any narrative other than directly seeking the player’s perspective,” USA Today senior sports editor Roxanna Scott said in a statement to The Post.

Some people defended Brennan. “Christine Brennan did nothing wrong. “This is the pettiest professional sports league I have ever seen,” one person wrote in the Players Association comment thread.

But another person wrote: “Yes to that. 1000 times. 👏 Brennan should lose her credentials. 144 in solidarity ✊🏻”

Jessica McBride is a news, sports and entertainment reporter who covers breaking news, politics, sports, entertainment and crime for Heavy. She is a former reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Waukesha Freeman newspapers in Wisconsin and is a senior lecturer in journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. More about Jessica McBride