Ben Stiller's enthusiasm for basketball on Saturday inadvertently clashed with breaking news about a shooting outside the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, leading some Republicans to question the intent behind one of his social media posts.
Stiller, known for his fervent support of the New York Knicks, spent several hours on his X account reacting to key plays as the team evened up their NBA Playoffs series against the Atlanta Hawks with a Game 4 victory on the road. The game concluded around 8:53 p.m. ET, just minutes after The Associated Press, Reuters, and other news outlets began issuing alerts about U.S. Secret Service agents removing former President Donald Trump from the dinner.
At that moment, Stiller posted a simple three-word message to his followers: “Got it done.” While New Yorkers and Stiller's fans are well aware of his devotion to the Knicks, the post caught the attention of some in the MAGA community.
“Got what done?” replied Representative Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) in a post on X. Richard Grenell, Trump's envoy for special missions, wrote “Wtf?” Other right-wing critics weighed in, with one user accusing Stiller of trying to be “clever” and another calling him a “piece of shit.”
Although Stiller, like many celebrities, has previously expressed displeasure with the White House using clips of him without permission, his post appears to have been a case of unfortunate timing. X attempted to clarify the situation by adding Community Notes under Mace and Grenell's posts.
Numerous basketball fans later mocked the right-wing responses. One Knicks fan account called out “complete idiots” who failed to realize that the comedian was “simply celebrating a Knicks playoff win.” Other users echoed the sentiment, with one stating, “I can't even believe I have to say this, but here goes. Hey MAGA: he's talking about the fucking Knicks. He's been posting for hours about basketball. Go find something else to clutch your pearls about.”
The confusion did not seem to faze Stiller, who dropped a salute emoji in a post on Sunday morning. He also responded with three fire emojis to a post by the Knicks' official account asking fans how they felt after the win.
