Elle Duncan's Caitlin Clark Reference in 'Toxic' WNBA Rant Sparks Backlash

Comments that Netflix anchor Elle Duncan made about the WNBA's "toxic" current state are raising eyebrows.

Elle Duncan at the 2026 Netflix Upfront at Sunset Pier 94 Studios on May 13, 2026. | IMAGO/MediaPunch

American sports anchor Elle Duncan made waves with comments she made during a conversation with Front Office Sports’ Baker Machado earlier this week.

"To have [the WNBA] deduced to a culture war is disgusting. And it sucks. It sucks because it's not getting any better. It sucks because we thought three years ago, when this started, it will die down. They will see themselves out; like, everything will regulate, and we are still here. And that's why it's toxic," Duncan said.

Duncan added that the, "predominantly black, predominantly queer" demographic of the WNBA is why it has become unfailry targeted in these culture wars.

“It feels like open season to dunk on Black women because we do not have protection. Because no one cares. Because we are low-hanging fruit. Because it is very easy to dunk on us since we are, I would say, outside of transgender people, the most marginalized of the marginalized groups.”

Duncan then mentioned opportunists who, "uplift someone that they sort of see in their own image, but then simultaneously dunk on black women, queer women, women who don't look like them... So you get to lift this one person up and you get to ultimately deduce everybody else that isn't her to nothing; as if they don't matter, as if their contributions don't matter, as if nobody cares about them... None of that matters because without this person, you aren't s***."

Elle Duncan says covering the WNBA is "toxic as hell."

Here's her full reason why. pic.twitter.com/bQ0iAlW8CJ

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 13, 2026

While Duncan didn't say her name directly, the "someone that they sort of see in their own image" and the person these opportunists "get to lift up" is clearly Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.

Clark is by far the WNBA's most popular player and is who Duncan seemingly believes is the source of these "divisive" fans that she's alluding to.

Why Elle Duncan's Rant is Catching Flak on Social Media

Numerous fan accounts and media personalities, such as Marcellus Wiley, Linda Cohn, and Jason Whitlock, are finding issues with these comments.

Wiley took issue with how Duncan seems to shun any fan that hasn't been around since before Clark came around in 2024, as if being a new fan is worse than not being a fan at all.

But the biggest source of backlash is how Duncan seems to believe that black players and queer players are the only ones who are targeted by negativity and toxicity within these culture wars, when these fans who disagree with her comments believe this isn't the case.

Plus, Duncan's comments make her believe that the league was in a better place before Clark and those fans she's referring to arrived. But that would also be equivalent to saying that the league's exponential growth during that time is a bad thing. If she's as passionate about the WNBA as her comments make it seem, it's hard to see how she can be so reluctant to embrace the extra attention that comes with this growth.

Essentially, it doesn't seem like Duncan is seeing matters from both sides. Plus, fans have noted that past comments she has made about Clark have contributed to this issue. And so for her to take such a staunch stance on one side of the fence now feels disingenuous.