(Washington Stand) The WBNA’s Seattle Storm fined its own co-owner, Celeste Keaton, and suspended her from attending the next five home games after Keaton confronted and cursed at teenage fans of a visiting team’s player on Tuesday. The fans cheered Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham with a courtside sign reading, “Thank you, Sophie, for speaking up for girls.” Cunningham said last week, “young girls in sport … shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” For one owner of a female sports team, even the idea of teenage girls endorsing this message was too much to handle.
“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,” one of the girls told independent journalist Brandi Kruse. The girls did not know Keaton, nor did they learn that she was a co-owner of the Seattle Storm until later.