A Seattle Storm co-owner has been suspended by the WNBA after two young women accused her of calling them ‘f***ing insane’ and berating them over their support for Sophie Cunningham.
Celeste Keaton has been fined and banned from attending the team’s next five home games over the incident that took place during the Storm’s loss to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night.
Cunningham, 29, underlined her support for protecting women’s sports while talking with ESPN last week, insisting women ‘shouldn’t have to go against biological men.’
Her words were inevitably picked up on and criticized online. WNBA fans have called for the league to ban or fine her while many of the other responses on X have veered into abuse.
Cunningham, Caitlin Clark and their Fever teammates then returned to the court in Seattle on Tuesday and emerged 105-95 winners against the Storm. She was booed by Storm fans when she checked in, as well as when attempting free throws.
Two young female Cunningham fans sat courtside and proudly brandished a sign declaring their support for her views. It read: ‘Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls.’
Celeste Keaton (right) has been suspended by the WNBA for berating two women at a game
The women (left) accused Keaton of calling them ‘f***ing insane’ and berating them over their support for Sophie Cunningham
The pair were also wearing T-shirts made by XX-XY Athletics, a clothing brand that ‘stands up for women’s sports’ and was founded by former national champion gymnast Jennifer Sey.
However, their support for Cunningham didn’t go down well inside the arena. Despite insisting they were ‘being super respectful’ throughout, they allege Keaton approached them and berated them in the middle of the arena.
They told unDivided’s Brandi Kruse: ‘We were just sitting there with our signs, holding them and watching the game and we were being super great. We hadn’t said anything to anyone else, we were being super respectful. We were just holding our signs and cheering for both teams.
‘Then this older lady (Keaton) comes up to us and, at first I think she’s going to be nice, but then asks “what are you guys doing?” or something like that.
‘”Jesus loves everyone.” That’s what she told us. I said “I know. I’m religious. I know.”
‘Then she said “I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you’ve done” and then she told us we are “f***ing insane”.’ The girls then mimic Keaton pointing at her head.
‘She then said “for you guys to come here and pull this s***”…’
Storm Majority Owner Ginny Gilder said in a statement: ‘We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night’s game. We apologize that this happened.
‘Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where every fan is treated with respect.’
WNBA star Cunningham took to X to slam Keaton and called her ‘truly embarrassing’
Cunningham, 29, recently insisted women ‘shouldn’t have to go against biological men’
The girls also alleged that nobody in the seats around them spoke up in their defense and the incident left them in tears. Kruse claims she attempted to get security involved but was told to email the Storm’s front office.
‘I’ve never been yelled at like that,’ the women continued. ‘I’ve had people hate me on the internet but it doesn’t really affect me as much because it’s people online. It caught me by surprise because I thought she was going to be nice but then she started screaming at us.
‘There was another lady, who told us we’re able to have our opinions but we needed to not be political about it. I tried to explain to her that we weren’t being political, I was just trying to support Sophie.’
Asked for their reaction to discovering the woman in question was the co-owner of the team, they said: ‘Just sad. We were shocked. It’s disappointing though, too. She’s also a woman and she just cussed out two 16-year-olds that were just trying to have fun.
‘We weren’t trying to be political. We were just trying to support Sophie. The whole time we were on edge. The lady was sat right across from us. The two people next to us (who were holding a sign that read ‘No Hate in these United States’) turned their backs to try and sit far away from us.
‘We’re not being hateful. Maybe they should work on being more kind to people, even though our opinions differ. We were being respectful and kind to people, even though I don’t care if you think something else. But obviously she was not happy.’
Cunningham broke her silence on the incident, writing on X on Wednesday night: ‘I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table!
‘You can disagree and still be kind. Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon. Yay for gifts.
‘Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.’
People gathered in support of Cunningham in Seattle before the game started on Tuesday night
A crowd of a few dozen gathered outside the arena to promote statewide initiatives 638 and 011
There was also an anti-trans rally near the arena in support of Cunningham before Tuesday’s game.
A crowd of a few dozen had gathered outside Climate Pledge Arena to both support Cunningham and promote statewide initiatives 638 and 011, which would bar transgender students from participating in girls’ athletics at Washington schools.
Media members asked to speak to Cunningham and Clark postgame, but neither player was made available. Kelsey Mitchell and Monique Billings addressed the media instead, alongside head coach Stephanie White.
When White was asked about the rally and Cunningham’s recent comments, a Fever public relations representative intervened with the following statement:
‘Neither our organization nor Sophie had any knowledge of this demonstration and no contact with its organizers,’ the statement said. ‘Our only goal as a team, whether at home or away, is to win basketball games and make Fever fans for life, and we are united in that mission.’
