A new report said that a journalist who had an odd interaction with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark last month has been suspended.
Sportswriter Bob Kravitz revealed the suspension on his website.
In a post filed Tuesday, he wrote that Gregg Doyel, a columnist for the Indianapolis Star, was in the midst of a two-week suspension imposed by both Gannett, which owns the paper, and the Star. Doyel has not written a column since April 29.
“The Star had hoped to keep this under wraps,” Kravitz wrote. “But it’s hard to hide the fact a lead columnist at a major metro has disappeared just weeks after an uncomfortable and unfortunate give-and-take with Clark at a significant press conference.”
But the punishment does not end there.
Kravitz wrote that Doyel will not be allowed to attend Fever games, although he can watch the games on TV and file columns that way. Doyel would not comment on the suspension, which is supposed to end Monday, Kravitz wrote.
Reporter: 🫶
Caitlin Clark: “You like that?”
Reporter: “I like that you’re here.”
Caitlin: “Yeah, I do that at my family after every game.”
Reporter: “Start doing it to me and we’ll get along just fine.”
Caitlin: 😳
(via @IndianaFever / YT)pic.twitter.com/BBjU881K7a
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 17, 2024
During an April 17 news conference, Doyel used his hands to make a heart gesture at Clark, who made the gesture toward her family during her college games, according to the New York Post.
Do you believe this was the right move?
“You like that?” Clark said.
“I like that you’re here. I like that you’re here,” Doyel said.
After Clark explained she made the gesture for her family, Doyel said, “Start doing it to me, and we’ll get along just fine.”
Although Clark had a quizzical look on her face at the comment, she made no further response, and Doyel went on to ask a question. However, the interaction was criticized at the time.
He’s been unprofessional for YEARS & not only does he get away with it, he gets rewarded. Unprofessional, Inappropriate, unfair, judgmental..just do your job & stop trying to be funny. This “man” is another example of why no one trusts the media anymore. @indystar – do better. https://t.co/dwiZ40Zpuu
— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) April 18, 2024
He later wrote an apology column in which he noted, “What happened was the most me thing ever, in one way. I’m sort of known locally, sigh, for having awkward conversations with people before asking brashly conversational questions.”
In the column, he said he had come to realize having conversational moments with men was different from having them with women.
No matter HOW you feel about this Gregg Doyel and Caitlyn Clark situation, we all need to accept that the landscape has CHANGED.
Comments and actions that may have been commonplace and “generally” accepted just a few years ago can land you in HOT WATER.
pic.twitter.com/2HoZ8NGw08— ✨ Ed 🤦🏽♂️ ✨ (@eddluxe) May 7, 2024
“I was just doing what I do, talking to another athlete, another person, and didn’t see the line — didn’t even know there was a line in the vicinity — until I crossed it. In my haste to be clever, to be familiar and welcoming (or so I thought), I offended Caitlin and her family,” he wrote.
“Caitlin Clark, I’m so sorry,” he concluded.
