Transcription
A teenage girl's pro-Sophie Cunningham sign caused the Seattle Storm owner to shout at her. The fan was left crying after being made to put it away. That's the post that has been making the rounds on basketball Twitter for the past 2 days, and it's not some inflated online rumor, either. The truth about what actually transpired courtside in Seattle is worse than the headline suggests. And compared to a single game score, it says a lot more about this league at the moment.
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>> like that. And then she told us that we were effing insane. [laughter]
>> And she's like and she went like effing insane.
>> She's like, you guys you better stop this.
>> And stop pouring this.
>> Yeah. And
>> Are you guys home schooled?
>> can save you.
>> Yeah.
>> She said for you to come here and hold this [ __ ]
>> Yeah. She said the word? [laughter]
>> Yeah.
>> Did she say effing insane or
>> the [ __ ] word?
>> No, she's Yeah, she said the word.
>> And nobody around you spoke up for you.
>> No.
>> No.
>> I will say honestly, when I came over, you were in tears.
>> Yeah, I've never been yelled at like that. I mean, I've had people hate on me on the internet, but like it doesn't really affect [laughter] me because it's just people online, but that just took me by surprise cuz I thought she was going to be nice and then she started like screaming at us.
>> Oh, the whole world was there.
>> At a WNBA game, a teenage girl carried a sign. No one was attacked by it. Not a single player was mentioned by name. It simply expressed gratitude to Sophie Cunningham for advocating for female athletes. A Seattle Storm co-owner approached her mid-game and instructed her to put it away, according to the fan seated there, in front of a completely sold-out audience. By the time it was over, security had been called in and the girl was crying. Take a moment to consider that. At a basketball game, a grown adult who actually has a stake in a professional sports team pursued a child because she loved the sign.
>> Caitlin in that story with the ESPN, you talked about wanting to protect young girls who shouldn't have to go against biological men. Just can you expand your viewpoint on that?
>> I mean, I think I I said what I said. I think it's kind of common sense. Um and I think I'll always believe in that. I think it's really important to protect children. Um and that's uh little girls uh who are also involved in that category. And so, um I I stand on what I said and um I'll always believe that.
>> Yeah, do you see your advocacy on that like taking any form going forward?
>> You know, I I don't know. I didn't I'm not a very political person, but I do have beliefs. I have morals and I'll always stand on those and be true to who true to who I am and um I I think people are going to take it how they want to take it, but I have never even really said anything about that. And so, uh when it comes just to protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, um I I feel very strongly about that. I think that's why you have Title IX. That's why um you have some of the greats in women's sports. If if if if Title IX and and women's sports weren't protected, then you wouldn't hear about any type of women in sport. And so, um I think in the future it's just really um important to protect.
>> Do you think I guess on on the line like that it goes against perhaps some people might say hey for the trans community this could be something that could come back on us or be targeted against us. Like how do you I guess view that sort of critique?
>> Um you know, I like I said, I extend love and um I don't dislike anyone. Like I think there is room for absolutely everyone here and I think there's room to love everyone and
>> A few weeks back, Sophie Cunningham was directly questioned about safeguarding women's sports during an ESPN program. She didn't try to soften it into something safer or avoid it. She stated unequivocally that she wants to keep young girls safe in locker rooms, that they shouldn't have to compete against biological guys and that she will always hold that belief regardless of the response.
>> how the left is completely intolerant and the actual hateful ones. This woman is not an owner of a basketball team. She's an owner of a left-wing radical political activist group that happens to play basketball. Because this team has endorsed Kamala Harris for president, they have promoted trans rights on their website and their merchandise and clearly they hold a double standard and allow people to hold signs like this, but belittle young girls that support their sports remaining female. I don't expect them to do this, but I would really like to see the WNBA protect and stand up for fans just like these two young girls from hate and intolerance. And if
>> No one in particular, a rival or a comrade was attacked. It was simply a straightforward response to a straightforward question given in a composed manner as one might anticipate from someone who has given it careful thought rather than spontaneously. However, context in this league rarely remains neutral for very long. So, whether Sophie stated it aloud or not, that response had a name connected to it.
>> Yeah, you know, I think it has been so fun. I played with uh BG for 6 years and so I I know her like the back of my hand and um as of late she's been playing really good. She's been playing like OG Britney. I'm there to love, uh but I'm also there to to love biological women and I think that there are rights that need to be protected and um like I said, I'm going to stand true to that. Um I I'll never falter in my beliefs in that, but I have never once said I hated the the trans community. Um like I said, I think there's space for everyone.
>> If you watched any of the Fever's games versus the Connecticut Sun this season, you already know who many fans associated such remarks with. For the past three seasons, Brittney Griner and Caitlin Clark have had a difficult on court relationship. Body checks that went unreported, a bench moment from the previous season that fans are still debating frame by frame, and an officiating style that consistently deviated from the norm each time these two played together. Thus, when Cunningham, Clark's closest teammate and the team's most outspoken defender, got up and declared, "Men shouldn't be playing in women's sports." The fan base didn't require a translator to make the connections. For the most part, the time spoke for her.
>> Some fans at the game booed Cunningham when she checked into the game. One Seattle Storm player even showed up pregame wearing a shirt that read, "Trans rights are human rights." After the game, Storm coach Sonia Raman was asked about the situation.
>> Seattle and this organization and Climate Pledge, like we always want to be an area where people feel welcome coming into this building. I think we've always done a really good job with that. So, I know our organization was, you know, working closely with Climate Pledge and with security to just make sure that, you know, everybody feels safe and included and welcome when they walk in the store. And from what I understand, that was
>> The idea that Cunningham's remarks were directed exclusively at her has never been addressed by Breanna. Even while she would never choose a different teammate standing next to her, she did say in a different interview a few days before this whole thing blew up that playing against Cunningham is incredibly frustrating. Make what you want out of that. However, the response to Cunningham's remarks on the internet was a minimal, and it wasn't quiet for very long.
>> You do have Sophia Cunningham, a female athlete herself, very accomplished in her own right, coming forth and speaking that truth that men shouldn't play in women's sports. We want to protect women and girls, and the backlash she is receiving from Democrats and left-wing fingers across the country is astonishing.
>> The idea that Cunningham's remarks were directed exclusively at her has never been addressed by Breanna. Even while she would never choose a different teammate standing next to her, she did say in a different interview a few days before this whole thing blew up that playing against Cunningham is incredibly frustrating. Make what you want out of that. However, the response to Cunningham's remarks on the internet was a minimal and it wasn't quiet for very long.
>> I can't applaud her enough. This notion that you're hating on the trans community because you are not a proponent of them participating in female sports is utterly ridiculous. Sophie Cunningham said every word right on the money. There's no hate involved. There's only love we're talking about. But what happened to loving girls who are born biologically as girls? What about their rights? What about fairness associated to them? Lia Thomas, I'm going to keep bringing that name up. 400 plus in the world competing as a male, transitions to female, and he was number one. If we're going to act like transitioning from male to female doesn't involve an advantage for that trans athlete, I have nothing to say to you. You're not You're not You're not exercising common sense.
>> It was all over the place in roughly 48 hours. The article was picked up by USA Today. The following morning, ESPN included portions on it in a number of shows. It was given its own national segment by Fox News. Whether the league likes to hear it or not, the White House press secretary officially stated that Cunningham was on the correct side of a topic on which the majority of Americans already concur. That is a significant response to a WNBA role player's candid response to one question in a feature interview. That is a national dialogue that extends far beyond the realm of basketball. Furthermore, Sophie never requested that any of it occur in the manner that it did.
>> Comes out last week and talks about her beliefs, which I do think is very rare, especially being as young as she is, and quite honestly being brave to share something she knows is going to get picked apart a million times, and then standing by it, that's refreshing, especially from a young woman.
>> People should actually focus more on what she did next, because it's what sets her apart from practically every other athlete who has ever been in this situation. Days later, reporters returned to her, obviously hoping that she would soften it into something less dangerous and particular, clarify it, or walk it back. None of that was done by her. She said it nearly verbatim, adding that she doesn't hate anyone, and that she truly thinks there's space for everyone, but she won't alter her true belief simply because a group of people asked her to. That isn't how someone pursues controversy in order to gain attention. That's a person who was asked a fair question, answered honestly, and when the pressure finally arrived, refused to behave as though she didn't mean it.
>> She's covering your sign.
>> And that leads us to Seattle, where the whole thing changed from being an online dispute to something that happened to a real child at a real game in front of real people who witnessed it happen in real time. On paper, the Fever's game against the Storm on Tuesday night should have been just about basketball. A modest throng assembled outside Climate Pledge Arena before the tip-off. Some are coming to directly support Cunningham, while others are there to support a Washington ballot question that has been gaining traction throughout the state regarding equity in girls athletics. Some donned clothes bearing the XX and XY symbols, while others carried signs. It wasn't directed at any particular Storm player. It was about more than just one WNBA player's remarks. It was about Cunningham, the larger discussion she had entered weeks before, and a policy discussion that has been developing for some time.
>> And there's signs that said like, "We love Sophie. Like, thank you Sophie for speaking up." And so we were holding on just watching the game again. Like, we weren't 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.
>> Mhm.
>> And this lady, older lady, comes up to us. And she comes up to us and at first I think she's going to be nice. And then [laughter] she asks like, "What are you guys doing?" Something like that.
>> And then it was like, "Jesus loves everyone."
>> That's what she told us. And I was like, "Oh, I know. Like, I'm really just like, I know. Like, I thought she'd be nice."
>> Yeah. And she's like, "Oh, I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you've done." And like, something like that. And then she told us that we were acting insane.
>> And she's like, "And she went like this."
>> Yeah.
>> [laughter]
>> She's like, "You guys you better stop this."
>> And stop holding this. Yeah.
>> Two of those supporters entered the arena and sat courtside with a banner expressing gratitude to Cunningham for standing up for girls. Brandi Cruz of Undivided Pod, who had a direct conversation with them thereafter, claimed that a woman had come up to them mid-game and labeled them utterly insane. Then had them taken out of their seats by security. The woman was later recognized by the audience as Celeste Caton, the Storm's minority owner. One of them claimed that the speed at which a night at a basketball game escalated into a combative and intimate exchange left her in tears before the altercation had even ended.
>> And Jesus took her out to talk to her a little bit. All the way from California FOR THIS.
>> YEAH.
>> [screaming]
>> WE ARE WE'RE NOT REAL. I had this crazy idea on Thursday that I wanted to support Sophie. We've gone all around California supporting female athletes. And I just said, "We can go to Seattle and we can support female athletes." And Brandy was right there ready to help us. And thank you all for showing up. We We just have simple belief that women are adult human females.
>> Yeah.
>> And women deserve their own female-only sports and spaces, especially prisons and domestic violence shelters.
>> Yes.
>> We are 108 lbs of
>> Now consider the asymmetry that exists in the center of everything. Outside the arena, a group of people representing various viewpoints on this particular problem assembled. Additionally, no one from the group went to the opposing side of the demonstration to provide them with any information. She is entirely correct in that quote. Nobody in the audience is arguing that she shouldn't be permitted to enter her own arena wearing whatever she wants. However, a co-owner of the home team challenged a teenage fan who was silently holding a thank you sign for player on the visiting side, telling him to put it away in front of thousands of spectators.
>> I apologize for doing
>> Look, I literally just left CrossFit, don't have any recording material here here, but breaking news, Storm co-owner Celeste Kitten was fined and suspended from attending the next five home games of the Seattle Storm following the incident with uh Fever fans last night in which she made a comment about um um one of their players um supporters. Um that came directly from the league. So, that's the latest um on this developing story. So, there it is.
>> Here's the obvious question to ask yourself. A garment that makes a political statement on the other side of that same issue receives nothing but a standing ovation from the audience, whereas a sign that merely reads, "Thank you for speaking up for girls." is enough to get a fan yelled at by ownership. What does that genuinely tell you about the current state of this organization? The sign wasn't impolite. In fact, it wasn't. It didn't specifically target any Storm players because it didn't do that either. In reality, that sign only agreed with Sophie Cunningham. Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome regardless of what they believe, said Jenny Gilder, the majority owner, in a statement acknowledging that a co-owner had made remarks to two fans and offering an apology. Take note of everything that was deliberately avoided in the sentence. Catton was not specifically mentioned. What was actually stated to the fans at the time was not explained. Furthermore, it never addressed whether there would be any actual accountability beyond a well-crafted press release or why a co-owner felt entitled to confront paying customers over a sign in the first place. It sounded just like the kind of statement designed to subtly erase a difficult tale. Not one designed to truly address what transpired on that concourse.
>> If Sophie Cunningham who's willing to stand 10 toes down and and Sophie Cunningham was quoted as saying, I want to protect young girls in a locker room or young girls in sports who shouldn't have to go against biological men.
>> Megan Rapinoe is such a [ __ ] bird. Like she's such a [ __ ] bird. Biological men should not be playing in sports with biological men, period, end of discussion. It shouldn't be controversial. It shouldn't be a cause for debate. It shouldn't be labeled transphobia because you don't want to have to compete with people who were born biological men and have biological advantages that women will never have and never be able to have for the rest of their life. I always ask the question, why do we never see like biological um women transitioning to be men and playing in men's sports? Why? Why don't we ever see that? Why is it always biological men transitioning to women and coming over to play with women? If it's
>> And when you take away all the surrounding noise, that's actually the core of the whole thing. None of this was earned by Sophie Cunningham. She gave an honest response to a question, defended it twice when pressure was applied, and then witnessed a teenager admirer handled like a threat just for publicly agreeing with her. At a basketball game, a team owner shouldn't yell at anyone because of a shirt or a sign. Completely stop. Whichever side of the argument they choose, the fact that it only affected Cunningham supporters tells you about all you need to know about how biased tolerance is in some areas of this league. We'd love to hear your thoughts, so be sure to leave a comment below. If you enjoyed the video, don't forget to subscribe and turn on all notifications so you never miss our latest updates. Thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next video. Click the video on your screen to keep watching.