Monica McNutt has rejected accusations of racism after her criticism of Taylor Swift went viral. The 36-year-old New York Knicks radio analyst said, “Even if you call out race being super peace of mind, I’m just making an observation of what is happening.”
Monica McNutt explains how she was NOT being racist towards Taylor Swift at the Knicks game
According to Fox News, on June 10, the Knicks radio analyst and ESPN personality was caught on a hot mic reacting to Swift’s appearance at Madison Square Garden during Game 4 of the NBA Finals. She asked, “Is that Taylor Swift? She’s not a Knicks fan. Get out of here, girl.”
Swifties quickly came to the pop singer’s defense. One of many fans wrote, “Taylor lives in NYC and is a Knicks fan. Black people are uninformed on everything and only hate Taylor Swift cause she’s white. Racist a** beings.”
In a June 12 broadcast of The Breakfast Club, McNutt defended herself, saying, “One, hot mic, first of all, right? Second, I literally just did a piece on Knicks celebrity row. After the game, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor are hugging me. Like, I know the celebrities that are there consistently. I may have misspoken on her loyalties, but I had not seen her all season.”
She said she was not being racist. “Even if you call out race being super peace of mind, I’m just making an observation of what is happening. Quickly, people were like, ‘Oh, you’re racist.’ No, I’m kind of stating a fact. But we have had to live in the fact, and it makes everybody else uncomfortable.”
Cohost Loren LoRosa argued that while critics of McNutt did not mention race, it was still an underlying factor. McNutt agreed, saying, “It’s implied. Because if I were in a different body, it would be nothing.” Fellow co-hosts also defended her, with Jess Hilarious saying, “If it was a Black woman, it wouldn’t have even been a story. There was no way for them to make that Taylor Swift moment a black or white thing.”
In a video shared by TMZ, McNutt also issued an apology. She said, “I misspoke. I did not know.” And added, ” I mean, I did not know. I apologize if I’m wrong. And apparently I’m wrong, and that’s fine.” The Knicks’ next game, Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals, is set for June 13, 2026, in San Antonio against the Spurs.
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Originally reported by Meenakshi Sengupta for Mandatory
