The WNBA fined and suspended a Seattle Storm co-owner after she allegedly screamed profanities at two teenage fans whose only offense was holding signs in support of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham's defense of women's sports.
Celeste Keaton, a co-owner of the Storm, confronted the two girls during a July 28 game at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, allegedly calling them "f---ing insane" and telling them, "I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you've done," the New York Post reported. The girls, who were wearing shirts from XX-XY Athletics, a brand founded by former gymnast Jennifer Sey that advocates for protecting women's sports, had brought signs reading "Thank you, Sophie #8, for speaking up for girls!" They left the encounter in tears.
The league responded by fining Keaton an undisclosed amount and barring her from attending the Storm's next five home games. The Storm organization accepted the discipline and issued a statement saying it remains "committed to creating a welcoming and respectful environment for anyone who attends a Storm game." Cunningham, for her part, did not stay quiet.
The Fever guard posted on X after the incident went public, praising the girls and condemning Keaton's behavior directly.
"I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY... You can disagree and still be kind. Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is."
Cunningham added: "You'll be hearing from me soon", a line that National Review noted in its coverage of the suspension.
The confrontation did not happen in a vacuum. Days earlier, ESPN had published a feature in which Cunningham laid out her position on biological males competing in women's sports. She pushed back on accusations that her stance amounted to hatred.
"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that.' I think that I am here to extend love. But 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't have to go against biological men."
That interview made Cunningham a lightning rod heading into the Seattle game. Storm fans booed her when she entered the contest and again during her first free-throw attempts, AP News reported. None of that stopped the Fever from winning 105, 95, the club's fourth straight victory.
Independent journalist Brandi Kruse, who had accompanied the girls to the game, interviewed them afterward. One of the teenagers described what happened in plain terms.
"Well, we were just sitting there with our 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 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, and this lady comes up to us."
The girls said they expected a friendly interaction. Instead, Keaton allegedly began screaming and cursing at them. One of the teens told Kruse she had never experienced anything like it.
"I've never been yelled at like that. I mean, I've had people hate me on the internet, but like it doesn't really affect me as much because it's just people online. But that just took me by surprise because I thought she was going to be nice and then she starts like screaming at us and cussing at us."
Kruse, who identified the woman to the girls as the Storm's co-owner, offered her own pointed observation. As Fox News reported, Kruse said: "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."
That double standard is worth sitting with. An ordinary ticket-holder who cursed at minors until they wept would have been hauled out by arena security. A co-owner did it and walked away, until the league stepped in days later.
Before the game, dozens of fans had gathered outside Climate Pledge Arena to show support for Cunningham and to promote a Washington state ballot initiative that would bar transgender students from competing in girls' interscholastic athletics, Newsmax reported. The rally and the signs inside the arena were part of the same broader public conversation about fairness in women's sports, a conversation that Cunningham's ESPN interview had pushed into the national spotlight.
Storm head coach Sonia Raman addressed the atmosphere after the game, telling reporters: "Seattle and this organization and Climate Pledge, we always want to be an area where people feel welcome coming into this building." The Storm's majority owner also issued an apology.
But the apology and the coach's call for a welcoming environment sit uneasily next to what actually happened inside that building. Two teenage girls showed up, held polite signs, cheered for both teams by their own account, and were reduced to tears by a woman who partly owns the home franchise. The Storm's statement about welcoming all fans came only after the league forced the issue with a fine and a suspension.
The WNBA did not disclose the dollar amount of Keaton's fine. A five-game home suspension for a co-owner is unusual, but whether it amounts to meaningful accountability depends on what comes next. Keaton has not publicly commented on the incident, and the Storm's statement did not address her conduct specifically, only the organization's general commitment to respect.
No statement from Keaton. No explanation. No apology directed at the two girls she allegedly left crying in their seats.
Meanwhile, the girls' account, first reported by Brandi Kruse and corroborated across multiple outlets, has drawn attention from figures well beyond the sports world. J.K. Rowling was among those who publicly condemned Keaton's behavior.
Sophie Cunningham said she wants to protect young girls in sport. Two young girls showed up to thank her for it. And a woman with an ownership stake in a professional women's basketball team cursed at them until they cried.
If the people who run women's sports cannot tolerate teenage fans who support women's sports, the league's problems go well beyond one co-owner and a five-game ban.
