19 hours ago
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ESPN's Elle Duncan isn't backing down or apologizing for the suggestive joke she made during the WNBA All-Star Game last weekend.
Duncan was on the desk at halftime of the contest, with the score at 80-62 highlighting the severe lack of defense.
So Duncan decided to crack a lighthearted joke: 'We hope it gets a little bit more competitive, because like a girls trip to Cancun, right now, there's no D.'
It's a funny joke, if not a slightly blue one, and it's in line with others have made on ESPN's airwaves in the past (just ask anyone who's seen Diana Taurasi broadcast a South Carolina women's basketball game).
But this joke got more attention - and scrutiny - than others as a new wave of WNBA fans didn't find the humor in Duncan's remark.
Appearing on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Thursday, Duncan addressed the criticism while also appearing completely unwilling to apologize.
ESPN anchor Elle Duncan is not apologizing for an off-color joke she made last weekend
Duncan (L) joked about the lack of defense in the contest, saying 'like a girls trip to Cancun, right now, there's no D'
She told Dan Le Batard that critics simply don't know her work and 'girls say crude jokes too'
'My thing with the Cancun joke is, I feel like whenever I say something, it's like sometimes a reintroduction for some people who clearly don't know me or my work over the last 10 years,' Duncan said.
'I'm like, 'bro, I said on air one time that if you celebrate too early, it's called premature I'm-Jacked-Elation.' Like I can't actually imagine this is worse than that.
'Like I feel like I constantly have to remind people, I have been saying things like this for the 10 years I have been at ESPN.
'So I thought it was silly. I thought it was funny. Some people disagree. Some people definitely agree. But it is what it is. Like, yes, girls say crude jokes too.'
Many of the comments addressed that there were children watching the occasion. Duncan doesn't appear too pressed about that either.
'The funny part to me, y'all, has been the people who are like, "what am I supposed to say to my children?"' Duncan continued.
'I'm like, "well if you have to talk to your children about the fact that 'D' is a slang word for a penis, then I hope that I was able to help you have that conversation with your child who's old enough to watch basketball." Because my 4-year-old knows what a penis is.
'It's so silly to me. The idea that like this is groundbreaking or somehow completely inappropriate in the landscape that we live in right now is just wild to me. I was a little blown, to be real.'
