Storm co-owner leaves teen girls in tears amid Sophie Cunningham controversy
During the Seattle Storm’s 105-95 loss to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night, two teenage fans were allegedly verbally assaulted by team owner Celeste Keaton, referring to them as “f—– insane.”
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Keaton approached the two girls who were sitting courtside holding a sign that read “Thank you, Sophie for speaking up for girls!” where Keaton came and confronted them.
The Storm co-owner followed, “Jesus loves everyone.” The two girls revealed the interaction to Brandi Kruze on the Undivided Podcast.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham was recently embroiled in controversy with comments that oppose transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
They went on to share that Keaton told them, “I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you’ve done, for something like that and then she told us we’re ‘effing insane” while pointing at her head, and then told them “God can save you,” which left one of the fans in tears.
“I’ve never been yelled at like that,” one of the girls said.
“I’ve had people hate on me on the internet, but it doesn’t really affect me as much, because it’s 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.”
On top of showing their support for Cunningham, the two girls were also seen wearing XX-XY shirts, an athletic sports apparel company that was created by former gymnast Jennifer Sey.
According to XX-XY’s website, their mission focuses on protecting women’s sports and spaces.
They added that during their experience at the game, they didn’t feel welcome by the fans in attendance.
“The whole time we were kind of on edge,” one of the girls said. “I was like, should we put our sign down? I don’t know. The lady sitting right across from us, and the two people sitting beside us, were turning their backs and trying to sit as far away from us.”
