Stephen Colbert Takes John McEnroe to Task for Sexist Serena Williams Comments

Stephen Colbert and John McEnroe discuss those widely panned Serena Williams comments.

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The controversy surrounding John McEnroe's recent comments about Serena Williams hasn't exactly died down.

For those who don't regularly refresh their timelines on an hourly schedule, here's a quick refresher. McEnroe, speaking with NPR over the weekend, was asked why he chose to describe Williams as the "best female player" instead of simply "the best tennis player." McEnroe responded by saying Williams would rank "like 700 in the world" if playing the men's circuit.

On Tuesday's Late Show, McEnroe was pushed to clarify his comments by host Stephen Colbert. Noting that McEnroe is known for his "outbursts on the court" and for being an "outrageous character," Colbert said he had "stirred in the pot" in a way that he had rarely done in the past. "This weekend, you topped yourself," Colbert said before reading McEnroe's NPR quote aloud, prompting boos from the audience.

"It didn't go over big with my daughters either, okay?" McEnroe told the audience.

"Now listen," Colbert said. "You cannot be serious." That line should ring a bell for anyone familiar with McEnroe:

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"We were talking to someone on NPR radio and she said something to the effect, she was asking about Serena, and I said Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player that ever lived and I think she's absolutely tremendous," McEnroe said of the interview. "And she followed up with, 'Why do you have to say female tennis player? Isn't she the greatest tennis player that ever lived?' And I just said, wait, hang on a second here, if we're gonna talk about that, then you get into a little different category. Do they say that about girl basketball players, that they're as good as Michael Jordan?"

Colbert then corrected McEnroe, telling him "they might say women's basketball players instead of girl basketball players." Later in the interview, Colbert attempted to give McEnroe another shot at a lifeline by bringing up his past praise of Williams as "arguably the greatest athlete of the last 100 years," but McEnroe instead responded by saying Williams was "certainly one of" the greatest.

"That was the lifeboat I was throwing you," Colbert said. "Why'd you have to stab it with a knife?"

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