The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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WNBA team co-owner suspended after berating teen girls in stands to tears

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BS BRIEFING:

  • The WNBA has fined Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton and barred her from the team’s next five home games following allegations that she called two teenage Sophie Cunningham supporters “f—ing insane” during Tuesday night’s game at Climate Pledge Arena.
  • Cunningham blasted Keaton’s alleged conduct as “truly embarrassing,” while stressing that biological girls, biological boys, transgender women and transgender men are all welcome at her table. “You can disagree and still be kind,” she wrote.
  •  A franchise that promised an “inclusive environment” is now apologizing because one of its own owners allegedly directed profanity at teenage customers for expressing a view the owner apparently did not share.

WNBA SUSPENDS STORM CO-OWNER AFTER TEENAGE SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM FANS ALLEGEDLY BERATED AT GAME

 

The Seattle Storm spent Tuesday night advertising tolerance.

By Wednesday, the team was apologizing because one of its co-owners allegedly could not tolerate two teenage girls holding a sign.

The WNBA has fined Storm minority owner Celeste Keaton and suspended her from attending the team’s next five home games after two young fans accused her of confronting them during Seattle’s 105-95 loss to the Indiana Fever at Climate Pledge Arena.

The girls were seated courtside wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts and holding signs thanking Fever guard Sophie Cunningham for publicly supporting the protection of women’s sports.

One sign read: “Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls!”

According to independent Seattle journalist Brandi Kruse, Keaton approached the teenagers, objected to their message and called them “f—ing insane.” One of the girls later broke down in tears, Kruse said.

The league confirmed the five-game suspension and fine Thursday. The amount of the financial penalty was not immediately disclosed.

Cunningham responded late Wednesday with a message that was considerably more inclusive than the behavior alleged inside the arena. “I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY,” Cunningham wrote on X. “Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table!”

Then came the sentence apparently missing from the Storm ownership manual: “You can disagree and still be kind.”

Cunningham praised the teenagers for refusing to be intimidated. “Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe,” she wrote. “You’ll be hearing from me soon yay for gifts.”

She closed with a direct rebuke of Keaton. “Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.”

The Storm had already acknowledged that an incident occurred. “We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night’s game,” majority owner Ginny Gilder said in a statement.

“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.”

That statement did not name Keaton, repeat what she allegedly said or explain whether the franchise would impose any separate discipline of its own. It also did not answer the obvious question: If everyone at a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, why did arena personnel apparently leave the alleged offender in her seat after being told she was a team owner?

Kruse said the teenagers pointed Keaton out after the confrontation and that an arena security employee identified her as “one of the owners of the team.” Kruse said she pressed security to enforce Climate Pledge Arena’s own code of conduct, which prohibits abusive and obscene language.

“Had this been any other fan under any other circumstances who swore at and called some teenage girls ‘f—ing insane’ until they cried, they would’ve been ejected,” Kruse said.

That is difficult to argue with.

A paying customer who allegedly behaved that way toward minors would ordinarily be headed for the exit—not returning to a premium seat beside members of the ownership group.

Kruse said the girls had stayed up the night before making their signs and were thrilled about the chance to watch Cunningham from courtside seats. “They were so excited for those seats, like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of their favorite players,” she said.

Then, she said, she looked over at halftime and saw one of the girls “sobbing.” Contrary to early online claims, Kruse said arena staff did not order the teenagers to lower their signs. The girls put the signs away voluntarily because the confrontation had left them frightened and uncomfortable.

“The girls put their signs away because of what happened with Celeste,” Kruse said. “They just felt so scared and uncomfortable, they decided not to hold them anymore.”

The incident was part of a tense evening surrounding Cunningham’s appearance in Seattle.

Supporters gathered outside the arena before the game to praise her recent comments about transgender participation in women’s sports. A smaller counterdemonstration supported transgender inclusion. Inside, some fans loudly booed Cunningham, while Storm center Stefanie Dolson wore a shirt declaring, “Trans rights are human rights.”

Kruse also alleged that some Storm players made thumbs-down gestures toward the girls. “They were giving them thumbs down—like, to their faces,” she said.

A separate video released after the game showed another heated confrontation involving Cunningham supporters and Storm fans. In the footage, an unseen person can be heard saying, “She is a minor,” while a male fan uses profanity, calls the opposing group “garbage” and tells security to “take the trash out.”

The new footage does not show the alleged exchange with Keaton, but it provides another glimpse of the hostility surrounding the young fans inside the arena. Storm head coach Sonia Raman was asked after the game about the demonstrations outside but spoke before Kruse publicly identified Keaton or detailed the girls’ allegations.

“We always want to be an arena where people feel welcome coming into this building,” Raman said. She said the organization had coordinated with security and added: “From what I understand, that was successful.”

That assessment did not age particularly well.

The Fever, meanwhile, distanced both the organization and Cunningham from the rally. “Neither our organization nor Sophie had any knowledge of this demonstration and no contact with its organizers,” a Fever public relations representative said after the game. The representative directed reporters back to basketball questions. Neither Cunningham nor Caitlin Clark was made available at the postgame news conference.

On the court, Cunningham scored 11 points, collected five rebounds and added two assists as Indiana defeated Seattle.

The controversy traces back to Cunningham’s recent public comments opposing transgender women competing in female sports. “It’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said, arguing that young girls “shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” She also insisted her position was not rooted in hatred. “I extend love to everybody,” Cunningham said. “There’s no hate in my heart.”

The White House publicly supported her position. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: “Men should not be playing in women’s sports. It’s completely ludicrous that anyone could support that.”

MY TAKE:

Oh, the glorious irony.

For years, Americans have been lectured about “safe spaces,” “inclusive environments” and the sacred duty to make everyone feel seen, heard, affirmed, celebrated, applauded and possibly given a commemorative tote bag.

Then two teenage girls walked into a WNBA arena with a view the local ruling class did not like.

Suddenly the welcome mat disappeared.

According to their account, a grown woman—a co-owner of the franchise—approached them, cursed at them and called them insane.

An owner – one of the people responsible for setting the tone of the organization.

And what terrible thing had these young ladies done? They thanked a basketball player for expressing an opinion.

That was it.

This is what happens when “inclusion” stops meaning treating people with basic dignity and starts meaning mandatory ideological obedience.

You are welcome—as long as you agree.

You may speak—as long as you repeat the approved words.

You may hold a sign—as long as the people in the luxury seats endorse the message.

Otherwise, someone from management may come down and explain tolerance to you with profanity.

And give Sophie Cunningham credit. Her answer was exactly right. “Everyone is welcome at my table.” “You can disagree and still be kind.” That is actual inclusion.

It does not require surrendering your beliefs. It does not require pretending men and women are physically interchangeable. It simply requires recognizing that the person across from you is still a human being, even when you profoundly disagree.

The girls apparently managed that. The adult in the ownership group allegedly did not. Now the WNBA has suspended Keaton for five home games. Fine. That is better than ignoring it.

But let us be honest, five games is a fairly gentle consequence for an owner accused of reducing a teenage customer to tears. Had an ordinary fan allegedly directed that language at two minors, security would probably have escorted that person onto the sidewalk before the next timeout. Ownership should mean greater responsibility, not a platinum membership in the “rules for thee” club.

And the Storm’s apology? “We apologize that this happened.”

No. Rain happens. A bad bounce happens. Someone allegedly made a choice.

The team should say plainly what conduct violated its standards, explain how those standards will be enforced equally and make sure the girls receive a real apology—not a corporate paragraph assembled by committee.

The WNBA keeps insisting it wants more fans.

Here were two young fans, sitting courtside, engaged with the sport and excited enough to make homemade signs.

A league with healthy instincts would say: Wonderful. Welcome. Instead, they became the targets in a cultural struggle they did not create.

If the WNBA wants families to buy tickets, it might begin with a modest business strategy: Do not let the owners curse at the customers.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

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