{"id":644349,"date":"2026-07-31T13:34:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T13:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=644349"},"modified":"2026-07-31T13:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T13:34:06","slug":"wnba-suspends-team-co-owner-for-berating-girls-in-pro-female-sports-shirts-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=644349","title":{"rendered":"WNBA suspends team co-owner for berating girls in pro-female sports shirts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton has been suspended and fined for berating several young WNBA fans for believing in biological sex.<\/p>\n

Keaton berated the young fans during a game Tuesday between the Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever, the latter of which is home to Sophie Cunningham.<\/p>\n

Cunningham recently went viral<\/a> for\u00a0saying she doesn\u2019t believe men should be allowed to compete in women\u2019s sports. These otherwise sensible remarks triggered immediate backlash from the transgender community.<\/p>\n

In response, the girls at the game Tuesday wore XX-XY t-shirts<\/a> and carried signs that thanked Cunningham \u201cfor speaking up for girls.\u201d The t-shirts and signs deeply triggered Keaton.<\/p>\n

Listen below to the girls describe how Keaton behaved toward them:<\/p>\n

\n

Last night, @seattlestorm<\/a> co-owner Celeste Keaton cursed out two teen girls for wearing @xx_xyathletics<\/a> shirts, calling them \u201cf*cking insane.\u201d One of them was left in tears. I tried to get security involved and was told I should email the front office. pic.twitter.com\/Qi8TcfRtYB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe were just sitting there with our signs \u2026 just watching the game,\u201d the girls said. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t said anything to anyone else; we were being super respectful, we were just holding our signs and cheering for both teams, and this lady, older lady, comes up to us \u2026 and she asks, like, what are you guys doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lady was an enraged Keaton, who proceeded to remind the girls that \u201cJesus loves everyone\u201d before telling them that she hopes he can forgive them for standing up for young women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s like, oh, I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you\u2019ve done \u2026 and then she told us that we were effing insane,\u201d the girls explained. \u201cShe\u2019s like, you better stop this sh*t, and stop pulling this [nonsense].\u201d<\/p>\n

Keaton\u2019s harsh attacks made at least one of them cry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been yelled at like that,\u201d one of the girls said. \u201cI\u2019ve had people hate on me on the internet, but it doesn\u2019t really affect me as much, because it\u2019s just people online. But that just caught me by surprise because I thought she was going to be nice, and she started screaming at us, and cussing at us.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as bad as the backlash against Cunningham was for speaking the truth, the backlash against Keaton has been 10 times harsher and more furious.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the backlash has been so intense that the WNBA eventually suspended Keaton for five home games and fined her an undisclosed amount, according to the New York Post<\/a>. Meanwhile, the Storm issued a public apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night\u2019s game. We apologize that this happened,\u201d Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder said in a statement. \u201cEveryone 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham also responded to the controversy by posting a cheery tweet in which she praised the young girls for standing up for her:<\/p>\n

\n

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.<\/p>\n

Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You\u2019ll be hearing from\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/gIVWhEHi3Q<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) July 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, support for Cunningham continues to grow.<\/p>\n

A crowd of several dozens gathered outside the game Tuesday evening in Seattle \u201cto both support Cunningham and promote statewide initiatives IL26-638 and IL26-001, which would bar transgender students from participating in girls\u2019 athletics at Washington schools,\u201d according to ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Sophie Cunningham supporters line the streets outside Seattle\u2019s Climate Pledge Arena holding \u201cSave Women\u2019s Sports\u201d signs and chanting in support of the Indiana Fever star after her comments on transgender athletes competing in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

Counter-protesters gather nearby,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Dul3KArLFB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Fox News (@FoxNews) July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In an ESPN interview, Cunningham, for her part, disputed the narrative from the delusional, irrational left that she hates transgender people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never once said that,\u201d she insisted. \u201cI think that I am here to extend love.\u201d<\/p>\n

She then added. \u201cBut I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn\u2019t have to go against biological men.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton has been suspended and fined for berating several young WNBA fans for believing in biological sex. Keaton berated the young fans during a game Tuesday between the Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever, the latter of which is home to Sophie Cunningham. Cunningham recently went viral for\u00a0saying she doesn\u2019t believe men… Continue reading WNBA suspends team co-owner for berating girls in pro-female sports shirts<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":644341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-644349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=644349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/644341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=644349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=644349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=644349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}