{"id":644885,"date":"2026-08-01T14:58:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=644885"},"modified":"2026-08-01T14:58:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:58:34","slug":"brittney-griner-divorcing-wife-who-fought-to-free-her-from-russian-prison-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=644885","title":{"rendered":"Brittney Griner divorcing \u2018wife\u2019 who fought to free her from Russian prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gigantic WNBA star Brittney Griner has filed for divorce from the same woman who previously fought to have her freed from Russian custody.<\/p>\n

As previously reported, Griner was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison in 2022 after she was caught bringing what was essentially liquid marijuana (vapable marijuana) into the country.<\/p>\n

Following her sentencing, the Biden administration began negotiating with Russia to secure her release.<\/p>\n

During this time, Griner\u2019s wife since June 2018, Cherelle Griner, fought hard on her behalf.<\/p>\n

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Brittney Griner has filed for divorce from her wife of 8 years, who fought for her release from Russian custody. pic.twitter.com\/RJSrxdGpbe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FearBuck (@FearedBuck) July 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201c[Brittney] wrote me one letter and was like, \u2018Babe, I know you wanna go down right now but like, don\u2019t just yet,’\u201d Cherelle told \u201cGood Morning America<\/a>\u201d in May 2022. \u201cI won\u2019t go down until she\u2019s back\u2026 Every single day matters for me to be sound, for me to be alert, for me to be attentive, to make sure that she comes back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, the Biden administration reached a deal whereby it\u2019d exchange notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner.<\/p>\n

In an ESPN interview, Bout, known as the \u201cMerchant of Death,\u201d later described exactly how the exchange occurred and what he said to Griner during it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo they put the two planes together, and then gave a short instruction, went down, and here you are. Somebody showed up from Russian side saying hi, [asking if] everything is fine, I said yes. So he identified me, and then a couple minutes afterward, the exchange literally happened,\u201d he recounted.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately, I was little shocked of seeing her without her signature braids. She was way taller than me, and I just shake her hand and said, you know, I wish you good luck, and we both went to our planes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Years later, Griner is now seeking divorce from Cherelle on the grounds that their marriage is \u201cirretrievably broken,\u201d according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/a>. Court filings submitted this week in Georgia show that the couple has been separated since July 24.<\/p>\n

The filings note that Griner is asking for \u201cjoint legal and physical custody\u201d of their one child. The filing also asks for \u201can equitable division of all marital assets\u201d and says that Griner \u201cshould be awarded her separate, nonmarital property, including but not limited to inherited property as well as premarital property.\u201d<\/p>\n

The filings were submitted despite Griner having wished Cherelle \u201cthe Best Mother and Spouse Happy Birthday\u201d weeks earlier on Instagram:<\/p>\n

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A post shared by BG (@brittneyyevettegriner)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Critics responded quite negatively to Griner\u2019s divorce announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy how someone can stand by your side through a literal Russian prison sentence and you still walk away from the marriage,\u201d one critic opined<\/a> on social media. \u201cPeople really take unconditional love and loyalty for granted fr.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody moved heaven and earth to pull you out of a Russian prison, and this is the thank-you?\u201d another critic wrote<\/a>. \u201cLoyalty and gratitude aren\u2019t seasonal. The one who fights for your freedom when it costs them everything earns more than a court filing.\u201d<\/p>\n

See more responses below:<\/p>\n

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Moving mountains to get somebody out of a Russian prison only for them to file for divorce is a level of plot twist.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jessicaeleri (@Jixie_e) July 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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You screamed for her freedom, traded a real arms dealer, and the second the cuffs came off she filed the papers.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Quite Survivor (@storyrebuilt) July 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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She literally moved the U.S. government and traded a high profile arms dealer to pull you out of prison, just for you to file for divorce a couple of years later? Peak gratitude<\/p>\n

\u2014 marchesssik (@0xmarchesss) August 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This criticism parallels wider criticism over the Biden administration\u2019s decision to\u00a0give up a very notorious figure for a basketball player.<\/p>\n

During an ESPN interview years earlier, Bout addressed this anger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, think of this, that the same outrage was in Russia when I was sentenced to 25 years. Many people would say, \u2018For what? Just for talking? Are you serious?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is not even a proper translation to Russian of the crime of conspiracy. We don\u2019t have such even the legal term, So, this is this same kind of outrage in Russia about my case and about many other cases,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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

Gigantic WNBA star Brittney Griner has filed for divorce from the same woman who previously fought to have her freed from Russian custody. As previously reported, Griner was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison in 2022 after she was caught bringing what was essentially liquid marijuana (vapable marijuana) into the country. Following her sentencing,… Continue reading Brittney Griner divorcing \u2018wife\u2019 who fought to free her from Russian prison<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":644877,"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-644885","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\/644885","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=644885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/644877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=644885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=644885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=644885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}