Seattle Storm Apologizes To Young Fans Holding Signs Supporting Women’s Sports

The Seattle Storm issued a public apology Wednesday after one of the franchise’s co-owners reportedly confronted two teenage girls for wearing shirts supporting women’s sports.

According to ESPN, the confrontation stemmed from a demonstration outside of the arena. It reportedly escalated during the game when girls wearing XX and XY chromosome t-shirts and holding signs supporting Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham were harassed by players and Storm executives.

Before the Tuesday night game, several fans gathered outside Climate Pledge Arena to show support for Cunningham, as well as a state ballot initiative, IL26-638, “that would bar transgender students from participating in girls’ athletics at Washington schools,” ESPN reported.

Some of the girls then went inside to enjoy the game but were quickly met with animosity by Storm fans, players and executives, according to multiple reports. (RELATED: Fever’s Sophie Cunningham Speaks On Protecting Female Sports From ‘Biological Men’)

Brandi Kruse, an independent conservative commentator who helped set up the pre-game demonstration, told Fox News Digital that fans “were relentlessly booing at” the girls. She also claimed she witnessed “a couple” Storm players giving the girls a thumbs down directly to their faces.

During halftime, one of the girls texted Kruse about how fans were treating them and when Kruse looked over, she saw the girl in tears, according to Fox News.

“I look over at halftime, and she’s sobbing,” Kruse told the outlet. “They were so excited for those seats, like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of their favorite players. They stayed up the night before making signs.”

Later that evening, one of the girls told Kruse that an older woman connected to Storm approached them and yelled that they were “fucking insane,” Fox News reported.

In her X post about the incident, Kruse identified the woman as Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton.

Last night, @seattlestorm co-owner Celeste Keaton cursed out two teen girls for wearing @xx_xyathletics shirts, calling them "f*cking insane." One of them was left in tears. I tried to get security involved and was told I should email the front office. pic.twitter.com/Qi8TcfRtYB

Kruse told Fox News that she urged security to confront Keaton, arguing that the alleged behavior violated the arena’s no tolerance policy for abusive or obscene language.

“Had this been any other fan under any other circumstances who swore at and called some teenage girls ‘fucking insane’ until they cried, they would’ve been ejected,” Kruse told Fox.

The girls eventually put their signs down to avoid harassment. Later, video signs with “No Hate in Washington State” were displayed throughout the arena in opposition to the state initiative, according to Fox News.

“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,” Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder said in a perfunctory statement released Wednesday to Fox News.

Gilder continued by claiming that “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.”

Cunningham did not give a statement after the game, according to ESPN, but posted to X that the comments from Keaton “unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.”

“Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon… yay for gifts,” she said in her post. (RELATED: Sophie Cunningham Reveals Origin Of Viral Finger Pointing Meme)

The Fever defeated Seattle 105-95.

Amy Sousa, another woman who participated in organizing the rally, told Fox News that while the girls enjoyed the game the way they were treated somewhat overshadowed the celebration.

“The hardest thing was those girls having their spirits crushed,” Sousa told Fox News. “Adults should deal with adults. If you don’t like what I’m saying, talk to another adult.”

The Daily Caller reached out to the Storm for further comment.