Claim that Team USA lost $60 million by not selecting Caitlin Clark came from satirical site | HO

Team USA did not lose $60 million in endorsements by not selecting Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark as part of the women’s basketball team heading to the Paris Olympic Games.

The false narrative, suggesting a corporate backlash because Clark had been excluded based on her race, was originally shared by a satirical website but misconstrued as true online.

USA Basketball announced on June 11, opens new tab that Clark, who holds the record as all-time leading scorer in the National College Athletics Association (NCAA), did not make Team USA.

A photograph of Clark, opens new tab juxtaposed with a picture of the women’s USA Basketball team surfaced on social media with text beneath that says: “Team USA Loses $60 Million in Endorsements After the Caitlin Clark Snub: ‘We Can’t Back That Decision.’”

While the image carries a satire label in the bottom left corner and a logo for the satire site America’s Last Line Of Defense (ALLOD), some on social media commented and shared the image referencing a narrative that Clark was excluded because she is white.

One individual wrote, “Good. I support inclusion, and the reverse is just as bad. Shame on the WNBA.” Another said, “Ah yes. Justice appears.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee told Reuters in an email that the claims are “not true and completely unsubstantiated.” A spokesperson for USA Basketball said, “This is fabricated.”

Responding to a reporter for The Athletic who asked Clark how she felt about her name being used to further racism and misogyny, Clark said, opens new tab, “People should not be using my name to push those agendas,” adding that “it’s disappointing. It’s not acceptable.”

ALLOD, which describes itself as a “satire/parody – entertainment” account on its Facebook page, first posted the graphic on June 13 on Facebook. The About Us, opens new tab section of the page’s associated website, the Dunning-Kruger Times, says, “everything on this website is fiction”.

Reuters has previously addressed narratives first shared by ALLOD but taken seriously online, including suggestions that country singer Jason Aldean refused a multi-million-dollar offer to collaborate with Beyonce.