“We just all broke mentally!” Women basketball stars catch WILD stray from comedian Whitney Cummings in roast of 2024

Stand up comic Whitney Cummings went off track during her appearance on CNN's NYE special show which saw her throwing shots at the WNBA.

“We just all broke mentally!” Women basketball stars catch WILD stray from comedian Whitney Cummings in roast of 2024

Comedian Whitney Cummings threw shots at the WNBA

Stand-up comedian Whitney Cummings sparked a mix of laughter and outrage during CNN’s live New Year’s Eve broadcast with Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper. As part of her fiery roast of 2024, the comedian also made a pointed jab towards women’s basketball and the WNBA specifically.

During a pre-roast chat with Cohen and Cooper, Cummings previewed her irreverent tone. She quipped about CNN’s ratings struggles and joked about needing a legal team after her performance. When the roast began, she took aim at various cultural phenomena, eventually arriving at women’s basketball and the WNBA.

We just all broke mentally this year. Things got so bleak, we started watching the WNBA. Was that—what happened?

Whitney Cummings via CNN
time stamp: 3:30

Whitney Cummings’ comment, though intended as a joke albeit in poor taste, referenced the massive viewership gains for women’s basketball in 2024. The WNBA and NCAA women’s tournaments shattered records, with the Women’s NCAA Championship surpassing the men’s championship in average viewership.

At its peak, the women’s National title game even drew more viewers than the NBA Finals. It proves that basketball fans weren’t tuning in out of desperation, but because the women’s game had become a highlight of the sports calendar. A huge part of this phenomenon was Caitlin Clark, who became a household name even before stepping foot into the WNBA.

Caitlin Clark once called out Michael Che for stand-up comedy

This isn’t the first time women’s basketball and comedy have intersected controversially. NCAA and WNBA sensation Caitlin Clark once confronted SNL’s Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che after he made an ill-received joke about her. Che had joked that Clark should trade her retired jersey for an apron, a comment that sparked backlash and prompted Clark to fire back.

The SNL segment featured Caitlin Clark stepping into the spotlight to call out Che for his pattern of targeting women’s sports in his jokes. When Che denied the accusations, fellow anchor Colin Jost played a montage of Che’s past remarks, leaving him no room to escape.

Clark then took matters into her own hands, delivering a series of jokes that flipped the script. She mocked Michael Che’s comedy special, compared his wit unfavorably to Andrew Scott’s acting, and even presented him with a signed apron as a cheeky callback to his original insult. The segment concluded with Clark honoring the women’s basketball legends, who paved the way for her success.