ESPN analyst who was spared from brutal cuts is slammed by viewers after appearing live on air from nail salon

ESPN WNBA analyst Monica McNutt has come under fire from sports fans after delivering a broadcast segment live from a nail salon – while getting a pedicure. 

McNutt appeared on SportsCenter alongside anchors Michael Eaves and Nicole Briscoe, who immediately called out the unusual setting after noticing the backdrop. 

‘We bring in Monica McNutt and… hold up. I’ve seen a lot of people flex on this show but are you on a private jet right now?,’ Eaves asked, suspecting she was in the air.

‘You know what, Eaves. I am in the nail salon. I just got a lovely pedicure,’ McNutt, who was spared from ESPN’s brutal cuts last week, admitted with a grin. 

While Briscoe joked that she was ‘jealous’ and praised McNutt for being ‘busy,’ the 36-year-old reporter went on to explain her remote setup, revealing she propped her phone up at her chair with a drink in hand while getting her toes painted light pink.

‘It’s a lovely crisp light pink for the summer, we love that,’ said McNutt after Briscoe had queried as to which color she had opted for. 

‘Listen, real quick, bear with me folks at home if this is going to make you dizzy,’ McNutt continued, as she panned the phone around to show her surroundings.

‘They gave me this table Briscoe, and I had a lovely drink and just stretched out and I can prop my phone up and watch the game during the show and it’s just a lovely experience. 

However, the casual broadcast did not land well with viewers – particularly following ESPN’s recent wave of layoffs that saw veteran on air talents and anchors axed.

On X, one angry viewer wrote: ‘How are we suppose to take Monica McNutt serious when she’s on ESPN getting a manicure while reporting. Smh’. 

‘Do y’all not realize how stupid it looks for an analyst to be wearing earbuds on a segment, let alone from a nail salon,’ another disgruntled fan said.

‘Why is this allowed? Can’t take women’s sports seriously when she’s allowed to do a remote while getting her nails done,’ one fan said. 

The viral moment caps off a controversial week for McNutt, who previously sparked intense online backlash from basketball fans after taking aim at Caitlin Clark.

The controversy erupted during ESPN’s Women’s Sports Sunday studio show, where McNutt responded to comments made by Clark during a sit-down interview with SportsCenter at WNBA All-Star weekend.

During the candid exchange, the 24-year-old Indiana Fever guard opened up about the heavy emotional toll of her meteoric rise, admitting the non-stop discourse surrounding her career has become ’emotionally exhausting.’

‘When I walk out of the locker room, I shouldn’t be, not fearful, of what the conversation is gonna be. But it’s emotionally exhausting. It’s draining,’ Clark said. 

‘It makes your shoulders tense. Because people don’t want to talk about the basketball, they just wanna stir it up and make something else.’

However, rather than expressing sympathy for the star point guard, McNutt turned the criticism back on Clark, taking issue with her choice of words and suggesting she needs to do more to protect her fellow players in the league.

‘Caitlin Clark is 24. She is a shining star in the galaxy of the WNBA,’ McNutt argued. ‘But I do think as she continues to matriculate through this league, there’s room for a little bit more accountability and self-awareness in terms of her role in the larger sisterhood, if she sees it that way, in the WNBA.’

McNutt went on to argue that Clark’s use of the word ‘fearful’ was misplaced, pointing toward the harassment and threats directed at other players in the league.

‘I thought the choice, the word of being ‘fearful’ of the conversation after a game that she alluded to was interesting,’ McNutt continued. 

‘Because oftentimes, it seems… it’s the folks that are accused of doing outside the parameters of competition who are fearful, when you look at their social media.’