Reporter suspended after unpleasant exchange with Caitlin Clark

Gregg Doyel, the Indianapolis Star The reporter whose unpleasant interaction with Caitlin Clark sparked backlash was penalized by the Indianapolis News Agency as the Indiana Fever began its season.

According to former star Writer and longtime Indianapolis reporter Bob Kravitz, the star and its owners, Gannett, issued Doyel a two-week suspension following the exchange with Clark during her first press conference with the Indiana Fever on April 17.

Kravitz reported that Doyel will continue to write columns about the Fever this season but will not attend any of the team’s games in person, which will also keep him away from press conferences with players after games.

Instead, Doyel will watch the games from home, according to Kravitz.

The ordeal began when Doyel used the time during Clark’s inaugural press conference to raise his hands to form a heart for the basketball star, a gesture Clark made with her family after every Iowa Hawkeyes game.

In a confused response to Doyel’s hand gesture, Clark said, “Do you like that?”, to which he replied, “I like that you’re here.”

Clark added, “Yeah, I do that after every game with my family.” Doyel replied, “Start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine.”

The other reporters in the room appeared to laugh at the awkward exchange, but social media went into a frenzy when the interaction circulated online.

“Almost every one of my sports media and sports journalism students shares this clip of Gregg Doyel and Caitlin Clark with disgust,” wrote one user on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We are rightly angry and fed up. His credibility should be withdrawn and offered to an illegitimate journalist who respects women.”

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Doyel replied to the backlash

Later that day, Doyel published a follow-up column with an additional apology. “Caitlin Clark, I’m so sorry. Today I was part of the problem,” he wrote in a post with a link to the column.

In the column, Doyel wrote, “I’ve learned that I need to be more conscious of how I speak to people – not just athletes.”

“You can say this is absurd, I should have known better, and I do. But here we are. I just did what I do, talked to another athlete, a different one.” personand didn’t see the line – didn’t even know there was a line nearby – until I crossed it.”

He added: “In my haste to be smart, familiar and welcoming (or so I thought), I insulted Caitlin and her family.”

Doyel’s last writing before going quiet was a column about the Indianapolis Colts published on April 29. Kravitz said that the star had “hoped to keep this a secret,” referring to Doyel’s suspension, but noted that his absence had become more obvious as the Indiana Pacers had their most successful season in years after advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs .

According to Kravitz, sources said Doyel is expected to return to the United States Indianapolis Star on Monday, May 13th.