(The Center Square) - Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton is under increasing pressure following an outburst during Tuesday night’s Storm game against the Indiana Fever at Climate Pledge Arena.
Keaton allegedly cursed and berated two teenage fans during the game.
A post from Front Office Sports Tuesday indicated Seattle Storm and majority owner Ginny Gilder subsequently issued a public apology regarding the incident.
“We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night’s game. We apologize that this happened. Everyone 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," the statement said.
The girls who Keaton directed her comments toward were wearing shirts associated with XX-XY Athletics and holding signs that thanked Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham for “speaking up for girls."
In recent weeks, Cunningham has spoken up about the protection of women's sports and keeping male athletes who identify as female out of girls’ sports.
UnDivided podcaster Brandi Kruse posted an interview with the two students whose courtside signs apparently prompted the cursing response from the Storm co-owner.
“We were just sitting there with signs that said, 'We love Sophie' and thank you so much for speaking up," said 16-year-old Ahnaleigh Wilson, a junior at Eastmond High School in Wenatchee, in the interview with Kruse.
"And so we were just watching the game and were being super respectful. And this lady, older lady, comes up to us, and at first, I think she's going to be nice, and then she asks, like, what are you guys doing? And she said I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you've done. And then she told us that we were effing insane,” Wilson said on the podcast.
Wilson said she was in tears after the confrontation.
“I've never been yelled at like that. I mean, I've had people hate me on the internet, but it doesn't really affect me because it's just people online," she said.
"But that just took me so surprised because I thought she was going to be nice and then she started screaming at us and cussing at us?”
“She’s also a woman and she just cussed out two 16- year-olds that were just trying to have fun. We weren't trying to be political. We were just trying to support Sophie.”
As reported by The Center Square, Wilson was the first female athlete in Washington to speak out publicly in opposition to boys playing in girls sports in Washington, after losing to a male who identifies as female in a state track meet when she was in eighth grade.
Initiative IL26-638, which is backed by Let's Go Washington and will appear on the November ballot, seeks to require middle and high school students to compete based on their biological sex assigned at birth, which would ban male students who identify as female from joining girls' sports teams.
The Center Square reached out to the Seattle Storm for comment on Tuesday night’s incident involving Keaton and the girls attending the game, but received no response to both email and phone messages.
Let’s Go Washington provided a response to what transpired at the game last night.
"Adults attacking high school girls for supporting Sophie Cunningham is pathetic. These girls had the courage to show up," wrote Hallie Balch with LGW."The grown adults that cursed them out and verbally harassed them should feel really proud for making high schoolers cry, very brave. The 'no hate' crowd keeps showing us who the real bigots are.” Wilson, who was catapulted onto the national stage after her family decided to speak out about wanting to protect girls’ sports told Kruse, “maybe they should work on being more kind to people, even though our opinions differ.”
