The Ben Shapiro Show - July 30, 2026


Sophie Cunningham Responds After a Co-Owner Attacks Her Fans


Episode Stats


Length

37 minutes

Words per minute

194.24

Word count

7,229

Sentence count

608

Harmful content

Misogyny

114

sentences flagged

Toxicity

27

sentences flagged

Hate speech

38

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcripts from "The Ben Shapiro Show" are sourced from the Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool. Explore them interactively here.
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Well, let's say you ran a sports league and you had two choices in how to market that sports league.
00:00:04.000 First choice, all American, fun, inspiring, generally normie. 0.52
00:00:08.000 Second choice, militantly lesbian, trans, anti white, and the players bet on their own games. 0.69
00:00:13.000 Which would you choose? 0.82
00:00:14.000 Well, the NBA seems to be making its choice every single day. 0.79
00:00:18.000 Yet another WNBA scandal today, and it's precisely what you think it is.
00:00:22.000 This is the Ben Shapiro Show.
00:00:31.000 So, I am an NBA fan.
00:00:32.000 My son is an even bigger NBA fan.
00:00:35.000 Back in the 70s, we probably wouldn't have been NBA fans.
00:00:38.000 Most people were not back in the 70s, and there were a bunch of reasons for that.
00:00:42.000 First off, the NBA was broadly perceived as a kind of thuggish, drug infused league.
00:00:46.000 They had no national TV coverage because of that perception.
00:00:50.000 In 1977, a player named Kermit Washington for the L.A. Lakers nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovic in the middle of a game by punching him in the face during a scrum.
00:00:59.000 A fan assaulted an actual ref during the 1976 NBA Finals.
00:01:03.000 The ownership groups were totally mismanaged.
00:01:06.000 The amount of blow and hookers wading through the NBA in the 70s, extraordinary.
00:01:11.000 The NBA was kind of plotting. 0.99
00:01:13.000 They didn't have a three point line.
00:01:14.000 The ABA, which was its big competitor and had its own financial problems, they at least had three pointers and dunks.
00:01:20.000 The NBA had serious problems.
00:01:22.000 So the NBA decided to solve that problem.
00:01:24.000 They did so with a bunch of measures.
00:01:26.000 First, the Celtics drafted Larry Bird, the Lakers drafted Magic Johnson, and then the entire league was built around them. 0.66
00:01:31.000 They'd been huge, high wattage college stars, but of course, was white, and Magic was, of course, black.
00:01:37.000 The NBA also integrated the ABA. 0.92
00:01:39.000 They essentially bought them out and took them along.
00:01:42.000 And stars like Dr. J entered the NBA.
00:01:45.000 And the NBA decided to change its style.
00:01:47.000 They added the three point line in 1979.
00:01:49.000 By 1982, NBA games were now live, not tape delayed.
00:01:52.000 And by 1983, the NBA had decided to pursue a pretty serious anti drug policy to wipe out the cocaine problem.
00:01:58.000 The NBA also decided to put serious focus on policing on and off court violence and behavior.
00:02:03.000 They were finding players and suspending them.
00:02:05.000 And the NBA mostly decided to protect its stars.
00:02:08.000 And of course, it still does.
00:02:09.000 Which is why a lot of people will complain that stars in the playoffs get all the calls.
00:02:13.000 Now, listen, this is how you build a league.
00:02:15.000 That's what you do. 1.00
00:02:16.000 Now, let's turn to the WNBA. 1.00
00:02:19.000 So, the WNBA is the subsidized little sister of the NBA. 0.77
00:02:23.000 It has lost money every single year it's been in existence, ever, including this year. 0.79
00:02:27.000 The NBA basically pays its bills.
00:02:30.000 Its quality of play, well, it ain't the dude.
00:02:33.000 Here are some of the all star game highlights from this year in the WNBA.
00:02:38.000 Oh, Stewart tips it alive.
00:02:40.000 Williams from four point range.
00:02:41.000 Along with Ty Young almost subbed them in.
00:02:46.000 We were down by 11.
00:02:48.000 She tuned
00:02:50.000 that up. 0.79
00:02:51.000 She knew who she wanted to pass it. 1.00
00:02:53.000 Don Quell up to 10 points.
00:02:54.000 Howard takes it right back.
00:02:55.000 What a pass from NECA. 1.00
00:02:57.000 Asia Wilson can't finish it. 1.00
00:02:59.000 Clark gives it underneath and then we'll see. 0.65
00:03:02.000 You haven't isolated on Kaitlyn at all for a blow by yet.
00:03:04.000 Is that coming?
00:03:07.000 Five seconds left in the third. 1.00
00:03:09.000 Coppers jump. 1.00
00:03:10.000 Unable to hit that one.
00:03:12.000 As Clark. 1.00
00:03:13.000 With the heel, she can pull him a mile of the basket. 1.00
00:03:18.000 Asia Wilson, look at the speed, look at the athleticism. 1.00
00:03:25.000 Wide open at the other end. 1.00
00:03:26.000 Oh, no, Angel goes down now, and Asia Wilson has to pick her up.
00:03:35.000 Young, this is sorry.
00:03:41.000 Oh, good lord, come on.
00:03:43.000 You're what?
00:03:44.000 You're two feet from the basket.
00:03:45.000 How do you air ball a shot two feet from the basket?
00:03:47.000 Okay, honest to goodness, there are like men's suburban 40 plus basketball leagues that play better basketball than was played in the WNBA All Star game. 1.00
00:03:57.000 And again, that'd be one thing, but its brand is even worse because the brand for the WNBA has become militant lesbians who are kind of like okay at basketball by female standards, certainly not by male standards, and are simultaneously, 1.00
00:04:11.000 obnoxiously insistent that the only reason people won't watch them is racism and sexism. 1.00
00:04:16.000 If that was the WNBA brand, I know golden stuff.
00:04:19.000 Huge.
00:04:20.000 And then the WNBA received a large scale gift, like the greatest gift of all time, Caitlin Clark, because Caitlin Clark was breaking records in college, and her entry into the WNBA meant a spike in viewership and people actually giving a crap because she was good, and she's still really good.
00:04:36.000 Here are some Caitlin Clark highlights
00:04:40.000 Clark.
00:04:41.000 Uh oh.
00:04:44.000 Now Clark trying to make something happen behind the back.
00:04:49.000 Taps the basket and gets.
00:04:52.000 Samuelson, nice pass there to Clark.
00:04:53.000 These are good players, right?
00:04:55.000 That's a beautiful pass.
00:04:58.000 Caitlin, get it!
00:04:59.000 And of course, you can shoot the lights out.
00:05:02.000 Hey, so revenues are up and earnings are up and ratings are up basically because Caitlin Clark is in the league.
00:05:08.000 But there is one problem for the WNBA the league is still plagued by radical political leftism that has somehow become intertwined with the very character of the league.
00:05:18.000 They basically let the character of the players in the league dictate the character of the league.
00:05:22.000 And so the players, Whine incessantly about the fact that Caitlyn Clark gets attention.
00:05:26.000 Instead of them celebrating the fact that people are actually watching their kind of crappy games now, they just whine about the fact that Caitlyn Clark gets attention. 0.97
00:05:35.000 They keep saying that she's not good or that the people who are following Caitlyn Clark are only doing so because she's white and they're a bunch of racists. 0.69
00:05:41.000 Now, again, in the NBA, there were people who did this throughout Larry Bird's career.
00:05:44.000 I believe Charles Barkley early on made some comments about Larry Bird.
00:05:48.000 The difference is that the league, number one, rejected it.
00:05:50.000 And number two, Larry Bird himself trash talked the living hell out of everybody and would own you if you tried to do this.
00:05:57.000 But here are just some of the players who've been whining about Caitlin Clark, who is the person raising the salaries for everybody in the WNBA.
00:06:06.000 We're circulating the same players over and over again that we're talking about the same 10.
00:06:11.000 AZ Fudd, Caitlin Clark.
00:06:13.000 What about Kelsey Mitchell?
00:06:13.000 What about Enrique?
00:06:15.000 We don't talk about these players enough.
00:06:17.000 I saw that when Caitlin got hurt, nobody wanted to go to the game anymore.
00:06:20.000 It was like, oh, Caitlin's not playing.
00:06:21.000 I'm not interested in watching.
00:06:24.000 I mean, welcome to sports where some people are stars and some people are not.
00:06:28.000 There are a lot of underappreciated players in the NBA right now.
00:06:32.000 People who are probably better than LeBron James, but you're not going to necessarily show up to the game if LeBron isn't playing.
00:06:39.000 They're probably centers who are playing better offense than Wemby right now, but you're going to show up to the Wemby game because Wemby's a star. 0.92
00:06:45.000 And now, it's not just that they criticize Caitlin Clark, there's this tendency in the WNBA to continually manhandle Caitlin Clark. 0.96
00:06:53.000 Again, the league needs to crack down on this because it's absurd. 0.60
00:06:56.000 The tapes have become legion of various players basically beating up on Caitlin Clark.
00:07:03.000 And, ooh, that's a.
00:07:05.000 You can see there's a player going after Kentlin Clark's neck there to get up.
00:07:09.000 Good times.
00:07:12.000 And this is not rare, unfortunately.
00:07:14.000 There's a lot of tape.
00:07:15.000 Just like this.
00:07:16.000 Kent Clark going to the hoop, and people just fizzly bashing him.
00:07:19.000 And in for Clark.
00:07:22.000 And draws the foul at 1.6. 1.00
00:07:24.000 She goes sprawling. 1.00
00:07:27.000 Trying to slow her down, picking her up at mid court. 0.98
00:07:30.000 Offensive foul call.
00:07:32.000 Seattle, and all of a sudden, we're getting close.
00:07:34.000 Some of these are offensive fouls, and some of these we've heard just getting hammered.
00:07:37.000 All second quarter
00:07:41.000 Oh, that's on the rip through on the cut by Powers.
00:07:41.000 long.
00:07:43.000 I mean, elbowing her in the face. 0.94
00:07:45.000 Now, again, I'm not going to say each one of these is on purpose or racist or anything, but there is a large scale trend of Caitlin Clark just getting randomly kind of manhandled. 1.00
00:07:55.000 Okay, but here's the thing even that gave the WNBA an opportunity because it turns out that Caitlin Clark's team. 1.00
00:08:01.000 Also, it has on it a very pretty forward named Sophie Cunningham. 0.99
00:08:06.000 She also happens to be rather all American in her attitude and viewpoints. 0.70
00:08:10.000 And so she has sort of become Caitlin Clark's protector on the court, which led to viral moments like this.
00:08:14.000 Again, WNB has some momentum here.
00:08:16.000 This viral moment has become a meme all over the internet.
00:08:18.000 This is Sophie Cunningham, who was told by another player not to point at her, so she proceeded to point at her for the rest of time.
00:08:24.000 I believe that Sophie Cunningham is still pointing at this player.
00:08:28.000 So there you've got it, right?
00:08:30.000 This thing, right?
00:08:31.000 And it just keeps going.
00:08:32.000 It just keeps going.
00:08:34.000 I mean, again, one of the most hilarious things.
00:08:36.000 And Sophie Cunningham, obviously, she knows the cameras are on her.
00:08:38.000 She knows exactly what she is doing, right?
00:08:41.000 This is just smart marketing, right?
00:08:43.000 Smart PR. 0.98
00:08:44.000 Hey, so yet another opportunity for the WNBA, right? 1.00
00:08:48.000 Kind of wrong, because it turns out Sophie Cunningham has the wrong kind of politics. 1.00
00:08:51.000 Mainly, she's kind of just a normie. 0.98
00:08:53.000 In just a second, we'll get to the thing that got Sophie Cunningham in trouble with the trans radicals in just one second.
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00:09:55.000 Pure Talk. 0.51
00:10:00.000 So last week, Sophie Cunningham said that boys aren't girls and girls' sports should be protected from the boys playing with them.
00:10:05.000 And all hell broke loose.
00:10:10.000 I said what I said.
00:10:10.000 I think it's kind of common sense.
00:10:13.000 And I think I'll always believe in that.
00:10:15.000 I think it's really important to protect children.
00:10:17.000 And that's little girls who are also involved in that category.
00:10:21.000 And so I stand on what I said.
00:10:24.000 And I always believe that.
00:10:26.000 Yeah.
00:10:26.000 Do you see your advocacy?
00:10:27.000 See on that, like taking any form going forward?
00:10:29.000 You know, I don't know.
00:10:30.000 I didn't, I'm not a very political person, but I do have beliefs, I have morals, and I'll always stand on those and be true to who I am.
00:10:37.000 And I think people are going to take it how they want to take it, but I've never even really said anything about that.
00:10:43.000 And so when it comes just to protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very strongly about that.
00:10:50.000 I think that's why you have Title IX.
00:10:52.000 That's why you have some of the greats in women's sports. 0.98
00:10:55.000 If Title IX and women's sports weren't protected, then you wouldn't hear about any type of women in sport.
00:11:00.000 And so I think in the future, it's just really important to protect. 0.61
00:11:05.000 Okay, you know, great opportunity for the WNBA, right?
00:11:07.000 Because it's like an 80 20 issue.
00:11:08.000 Most Americans don't believe that boys should play against the girls.
00:11:12.000 And you're talking about a women's sport league.
00:11:14.000 That's what you're talking about. 0.98
00:11:15.000 Women's basketball. 1.00
00:11:17.000 If you let the biological men play, you end up with the movie Juana Man or alternatively, Lady Ballers. 1.00
00:11:24.000 A 14 year old high school freshman boys starting varsity player at any decent public school in America would torch these ladies. 0.92
00:11:31.000 And it's just a reality. 0.69
00:11:33.000 That is not sexist.
00:11:33.000 That is called reality.
00:11:36.000 14 year old boys all over America are dunking. 0.97
00:11:39.000 The WNBA with biological men would just be called the NBA, and the ladies would be called ushers or at best refs. 0.97
00:11:45.000 Maybe an assistant coach or two. 0.99
00:11:47.000 So naturally, the WNBA's top voices decided to come out in stern opposition to Sophie Cunningham because the WNBA isn't the women's NBA. 0.99
00:11:55.000 It is the LNBA or the LGBTQ divided by sign NBA.
00:12:00.000 And all that came out into the open, no pun intended, a couple nights ago in Seattle.
00:12:03.000 So Brandi Cruz, a journalist in Seattle who I know, From my days back at a Seattle radio station, took a bunch of girls to the Indiana Fever game in Seattle.
00:12:11.000 And they were wearing XXXY t shirts.
00:12:14.000 Those are t shirts produced by Riley Gaines' company and Jennifer Say's company. 1.00
00:12:18.000 They stand against men in women's sports. 0.93
00:12:22.000 Fine, right?
00:12:24.000 I mean, they're carrying a sign that said, Thank you, Sophie, for speaking up for girls.
00:12:24.000 Good, right?
00:12:30.000 And then the owner of the Seattle Storm, who seems like a real charmer, her name is Cheleste Keaton, showed up to scream at these teenage girls.
00:12:42.000 Here are those teenage girls recapping what happened.
00:12:45.000 Well, we were just sitting there with our signs that said, like, we love Sophie, like, thank you, Sophie, for speaking up.
00:12:51.000 And so we were holding on, just watching the game.
00:12:52.000 Again, like, we were being super great.
00:12:54.000 We hadn't said anything to anyone else.
00:12:56.000 We were being super respectful.
00:12:57.000 We were just holding our signs and cheering for both teams. 0.97
00:12:59.000 And this lady, older lady, comes up to us.
00:13:02.000 And she comes up to us, and at first I think she's going to be nice.
00:13:04.000 And she asks, like, what are you guys doing?
00:13:07.000 Something like that.
00:13:07.000 And then it was like, Jesus loves everyone.
00:13:11.000 That's what she told us.
00:13:12.000 And I was like, oh, I know.
00:13:13.000 Like, I'm religious.
00:13:14.000 Like, I know.
00:13:15.000 And she's like, I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you've done, and like something like that.
00:13:15.000 Yeah.
00:13:15.000 I know.
00:13:20.000 And then she told us that we were effing insane.
00:13:23.000 And she's like, and she went like that.
00:13:25.000 Yeah.
00:13:25.000 She's like, you guys, you better stop this.
00:13:27.000 And stop pulling this.
00:13:28.000 Yeah.
00:13:29.000 And for you guys, hope God can save you.
00:13:32.000 Yeah.
00:13:32.000 She said, for you to come here and pull this.
00:13:34.000 She said the word.
00:13:34.000 Yeah.
00:13:35.000 Yeah.
00:13:36.000 Did she say effing insane?
00:13:38.000 No, she said the word.
00:13:42.000 So, I mean, here are the pictures of the Seattle Storm co owners, by the way.
00:13:46.000 And it kind of looks like you would think that it was going to look just a little bit.
00:13:51.000 Just a little bit. 1.00
00:13:53.000 Well, meanwhile, the Seattle Storm Center at the same game, a lady named Stephanie Dolson, who is six foot five and 245 pounds, which makes her the shack of the WNBA, except she stinks. 1.00
00:14:02.000 She averages 3.8 points per game and 2.6 rebounds per game and has the mobility of quicksand. 1.00
00:14:08.000 She wore this shirt, which said, trans rights are human rights. 0.75
00:14:11.000 Okay, lady, if you were playing against the dudes again, you would not make a basketball team. 1.00
00:14:18.000 You would not.
00:14:19.000 And you're the ones who are bringing this up because you're the ones who insist.
00:14:22.000 That boys can be girls.
00:14:24.000 Now, Sophie Cunningham applauded the girls.
00:14:27.000 She went on X and she said, I truly believe there is a safe space and love for everybody biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men.
00:14:34.000 So she's using the language of the left there.
00:14:36.000 Everyone is welcome at my table.
00:14:37.000 You can disagree and still be kind. 0.97
00:14:39.000 Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe.
00:14:40.000 You'll be hearing from me soon.
00:14:42.000 Yay for gifts.
00:14:43.000 Truly embarrassing of the co owner. 1.00
00:14:44.000 Unfortunately, shows the type of leader she is. 1.00
00:14:46.000 So again, Sophie Cunningham is trying to play it as mainstream as possible. 0.97
00:14:49.000 She's even using the acceptable language here, which again, I would not recommend because it ain't going to win her any points.
00:14:54.000 But It is incredible that this was even a controversy.
00:14:57.000 So the WNBA eventually suspended and fined Keaton.
00:15:01.000 They said that she has been the co owner, suspended from attending a series of games.
00:15:08.000 The next five home games, she's been fined.
00:15:10.000 But again, the lasting impression here is pretty obvious.
00:15:12.000 If you are traditionally conservative, hell, if you're traditionally rational in any way, if you are not a radical LGBTQ divided by sign activist, you do not belong at a WNBA game. 0.72
00:15:23.000 They're actively alienating well over half of the American population. 0.77
00:15:27.000 But apparently, you know who is acceptable in the WNBA?
00:15:30.000 Players in the WNBA who literally bet on their own game on camera.
00:15:36.000 The WNBA spread this actual tape.
00:15:40.000 So, Paige Buchers, who I guess plays for Dallas, she made a bet with Angel Reese, who's sort of the arch enemy of Caitlin Clark, about the WNBA All Star game.
00:15:54.000 Literally betting on their teams before the game, which got Pete Rose banned from.
00:15:58.000 The Hall of Fame and baseball.
00:16:01.000 But the WNBA thinks this is fun and cool.
00:16:03.000 This is okay, apparently.
00:16:06.000 At All Star Weekend, you and Angel made a bet with each other on this game.
00:16:10.000 This is how the rich stay rich.
00:16:10.000 Is that fair?
00:16:13.000 You gotta save this money.
00:16:15.000 I'm gonna see you next week on Wednesday.
00:16:19.000 Yeah.
00:16:19.000 At night?
00:16:20.000 No, at practice.
00:16:21.000 Oh, at practice?
00:16:22.000 I mean, I know y'all gonna lose, but if y'all lose, I get to have that.
00:16:26.000 If y'all win, you get 400.
00:16:27.000 And if we lose, then you get 400.
00:16:30.000 No, you owe me 400.
00:16:31.000 But I'm staying away.
00:16:32.000 I'm staying away.
00:16:38.000 The WM put this out like this was cutesy.
00:16:41.000 Seriously, this is stuff that gets people banned from the NBA.
00:16:46.000 These are two supposed stars in the WNBA. 1.00
00:16:48.000 One, Angel Reese. 1.00
00:16:49.000 Again, she's supposed to be the competition for Caitlin Clark. 0.98
00:16:53.000 Well, yeah, yeah. 0.99
00:16:58.000 The defense.
00:17:00.000 Reese in transition.
00:17:02.000 Too strong.
00:17:03.000 Huge.
00:17:08.000 Oh.
00:17:10.000 Offensive rebound, second chance.
00:17:15.000 It's Canada for three. 0.97
00:17:16.000 Weekside board falls.
00:17:17.000 Game, but I just checked in a few seconds ago.
00:17:20.000 Kayla Clark to Angel Reese.
00:17:21.000 What a connection!
00:17:22.000 Angel can't connect.
00:17:23.000 Minnesota a minute ago in the first quarter is Reese working from the perimeter of the spin move. 0.99
00:17:28.000 Clearly, could have just got to the basket for the layup.
00:17:29.000 They want that three point shot.
00:17:33.000 Miles throws it away. 0.94
00:17:34.000 A two on one for Reese who gallops to the rim. 0.98
00:17:36.000 Can't finish test.
00:17:38.000 Here is how he's a little strong.
00:17:40.000 The announcer is the funniest part of this.
00:17:41.000 He's trying to convert on the lay in.
00:17:43.000 And another opportunity for the dream, Bray.
00:17:46.000 She also misfires. 0.99
00:17:50.000 Angel Reese getting that rebound. 1.00
00:17:51.000 Got the position. 0.98
00:17:53.000 And, uh, yeah.
00:17:55.000 Yeah. 0.86
00:17:56.000 Now, again, Angel Reese isn't a terrible player. 1.00
00:17:58.000 She's scoring like 16 points a game. 0.89
00:17:59.000 Okay. 0.99
00:18:00.000 But 0.89
00:18:03.000 the other player in that clip, by the way, Paige Buchers, she's averaging 21 points per game and is a very good player.
00:18:07.000 She's mostly known for the fact that the Dallas team drafted her girlfriend number one.
00:18:13.000 So it's great. 0.88
00:18:13.000 You can take your daughters to the game and hear about lesbian relationships and why trans politics are the thing that matters. 0.88
00:18:18.000 So here is the deal. 0.92
00:18:21.000 The WNBA. 1.00
00:18:23.000 It theoretically could be a thing. 0.91
00:18:24.000 It could be. 1.00
00:18:25.000 I mean, after all, there are a lot of women's sports that are the thing, that are actually a thing. 0.99
00:18:32.000 Women's tennis is very much a thing. 0.96
00:18:34.000 So is women's golf.
00:18:35.000 Not so much for soccer, which tends to spike around the World Cup and then fall apart for the same exact reasons, because it's very important to be incredibly woke.
00:18:43.000 But if you want people to watch your product, you might want to think about who's the crowd?
00:18:47.000 Who are you actually trying to appeal to?
00:18:49.000 I have two girls, 12 and 6. 1.00
00:18:52.000 Would I want to bring them to a WNBA game?
00:18:56.000 Where they are being preached to about the virtues of LGBTQ plus minus divided by sign radicalism, it's enough of a burden for me to pretend that the games are actually entertaining and interesting. 0.96
00:19:06.000 I would never allow these people to shovel politics into my kids' brains. 0.99
00:19:10.000 That's the problem for the WNBA. 1.00
00:19:11.000 They should separate off from their politics, but they won't. 1.00
00:19:14.000 For them to do what they actually need to do to make the league successful, they would need to acknowledge they're totally out of step politically with the rest of America, and they won't do that. 0.89
00:19:21.000 So I promise you, the WNBA, after a flash in the pan, will likely stagnate.
00:19:26.000 Yet again. 0.99
00:19:27.000 Coming up, we'll be joined by Jennifer Say, the founder of XXXY Athletics.
00:19:30.000 She, of course, is promoting the idea that boys should not play against the girls.
00:19:35.000 These things are obvious.
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00:20:37.000 Joining me online to discuss all this is Jennifer Say, the founder of XXXY Athletics and 1986 Women's.
00:20:42.000 National Gymnastics Champion.
00:20:43.000 Jennifer, thanks so much for taking the time.
00:20:46.000 Thanks for having me, Ben.
00:20:49.000 So let's talk about what happened at the Seattle Storm Games. 0.98
00:20:52.000 So, obviously, some young women were wearing your gear. 0.93
00:20:55.000 Why don't you start with your organization and what it's designed to do?
00:21:00.000 Yeah, I started the brand about two years ago.
00:21:02.000 I have a background in fashion and brand building.
00:21:05.000 I spent 23 years at Levi's, eight of them as the CMO, two as the brand president.
00:21:13.000 And I left the company in 2022, and I decided to start my own brand that combined my athletic background with my brand building experience because I to influence this conversation about biological reality and standing up in defense of female athletes.
00:21:29.000 I've been standing up for female athletes for 20 years.
00:21:31.000 I was the first whistleblower about abuse in gymnastics way before, you know, the story of Larry Nasser blew up.
00:21:37.000 So I'm kind of used to saying true but controversial things that people don't want to hear.
00:21:43.000 I just feel like the other side, the other side, they have all these brands and cultural artifacts, movies, film, music, all of it touting their message.
00:21:51.000 And we've just ceded that territory.
00:21:54.000 I just want to make it cool to stand up and say men and women are different and women and girls deserve their own spaces.
00:21:59.000 That should be cool.
00:22:00.000 That's a normal thing to say.
00:22:02.000 And so that's what I'm trying to do with the brand, if that makes sense.
00:22:06.000 So the other night, Brandi Cruz, who's a former colleague of mine, actually at a Seattle radio station, she took a bunch of girls to the Seattle Storm game and they were wearing your gear.
00:22:14.000 And this turned into a National issue because the owner or the co owner of the Seattle Storm decided to berate the girls pretty publicly.
00:22:22.000 What did you feel when you saw that happening?
00:22:26.000 Well, I do want to say one thing.
00:22:27.000 So I know Brandi well, and they did host a rally outside of the stadium beforehand.
00:22:32.000 And the attendees, it was 10 to 1 our side.
00:22:36.000 I mean, the ground is shifting under our feet.
00:22:38.000 That's the good news. 0.99
00:22:39.000 The cultural ground is shifting under our feet.
00:22:42.000 There were 10 times as many women there showing up to support Sophie and fair competition than there were.
00:22:50.000 Activists screeching at them. 0.97
00:22:51.000 So that's huge.
00:22:53.000 That wouldn't have happened a year ago or two years ago.
00:22:53.000 That's a good news.
00:22:56.000 It would have been totally the other direction. 1.00
00:22:58.000 So, yeah, these girls were at courtside. 1.00
00:23:00.000 One of them, her name is Annalee Wilson.
00:23:01.000 She's 16.
00:23:02.000 She's taken a stand for fair competition in Washington State.
00:23:05.000 She's one of the athletes on our roster. 1.00
00:23:07.000 And one of the co owners of the Seattle Storm saw fit to come up and berate these two teenage girls, curse at them, you know, tell them to cut the, I won't curse, cut this. 1.00
00:23:21.000 Ash, ass out. 1.00
00:23:23.000 She said, effing this, effing that. 1.00
00:23:26.000 And poor Anneli started crying.
00:23:28.000 I mean, she's a 16 year old girl.
00:23:30.000 This is a girl.
00:23:30.000 And all she was doing was wearing one of our shirts and holding a sign saying, Thank you, Sophie.
00:23:36.000 I mean, totally peaceful, there to support both teams, cheering for both sides. 0.92
00:23:40.000 So this woman is cretinous and has been suspended now, is my understanding, from attending any games by the WNBA. 1.00
00:23:47.000 That's the good news. 1.00
00:23:48.000 This is what I mean when I say the culture is shifting.
00:23:52.000 Now, it is kind of incredible that this should even be a matter for controversy inside the WNBA, considering that, after all, the WNBA of all leagues should understand that if boys were allowed to play with the girls, there would be no WNBA.
00:24:04.000 I mean, whatever you think of the WNBA, a decent high school varsity basketball team at any public school in America would destroy the WNBA champions because boys are taller, boys jump higher, boys can dunk.
00:24:17.000 I mean, I know 14 year old boys who can dunk.
00:24:19.000 There are no dunks in the WNBA. 1.00
00:24:20.000 Like, again, this is not a rip on women. 1.00
00:24:22.000 This is just a reality about the differences between the sexes.
00:24:25.000 The fact that you have the owners of these teams who are saying that somehow women should not be protected, women's sports should not be protected is totally insane.
00:24:35.000 Yes, it's totally insane.
00:24:37.000 But this sort of march through the culture has been going on for 20 years, as you know.
00:24:41.000 They took over the language, the other side, these ideologues, this whole forced pronoun recitation.
00:24:48.000 That's what this is about.
00:24:49.000 If you're forced to say your pronouns, if you're forced to say trans women are women, how do you, at that point, once we, well, not you and I, but once others have said that, how do you tell that person, Will Thomas, well, you are a woman, but you can't compete in women's sports? 0.61
00:25:04.000 That capturing of the language. 0.53
00:25:06.000 Has been the march through the culture, and we were asleep at the wheel, frankly.
00:25:10.000 There have been women and men fighting this for some time, and I'm glad the rest of the country is waking up.
00:25:15.000 We can't see one inch on this.
00:25:17.000 We have to rest the culture back, and that means the language with the force it was taken from us.
00:25:22.000 I live in Colorado, Ben.
00:25:24.000 It is a crime to misgender here, literally a crime with penalties.
00:25:30.000 Like, that's insane. 1.00
00:25:32.000 I correctly gender every single day. 1.00
00:25:34.000 My brand is suing the state of Colorado because this is absurd. 0.98
00:25:37.000 This is ridiculous.
00:25:39.000 We have to forcefully take it back. 0.93
00:25:41.000 And we just have to influence hearts and minds.
00:25:43.000 And I think it sounds so silly that a t shirt can help do that, but it makes it really easy for someone like Annalee Wilson to just wear the shirt, not say anything.
00:25:51.000 It says, I believe in biological reality, and I believe women deserve their own sports and spaces. 0.82
00:25:55.000 It's simple.
00:25:58.000 Well, as Jennifer said, you can check out all of her work online, and you can go over to her company XXXY Athletics and buy some gear for your daughters or wear it yourself.
00:26:06.000 Jennifer, thanks so much for the time.
00:26:07.000 Really appreciate it.
00:26:09.000 Thank you for having me.
00:26:11.000 All right, coming up, we'll get to Clay Travis plus Anthony Fauci pleading the fifth 111 times.
00:26:16.000 We'll get to all of that.
00:26:18.000 It was a big fail for Fauci yesterday, but if your business fails, it is likely because you lost momentum.
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00:26:34.000 That's one reason we love using Shopify for the Daily Wire store.
00:26:38.000 We get to focus on creating products our audience actually wants while Shopify handles the technical side.
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00:27:12.000 Shopify.comslash Shapiro.
00:27:16.000 Joining me on the line is Clay Travis.
00:27:17.000 He, of course, is the founder of Outkick and a frequent guest on Daily Wire programming as well.
00:27:22.000 Clay, thanks so much for taking the time.
00:27:24.000 Appreciate it.
00:27:26.000 Yeah, always enjoy it.
00:27:29.000 So, you know, we have to talk about a subject I know that is close to both of our hearts the WNBA.
00:27:33.000 So, I was talking a little bit earlier on the show about the fact that the WNBA, I'm not sure I've ever seen a league that is so dedicated to its own destruction.
00:27:41.000 It's pretty astonishing to watch.
00:27:43.000 I was sort of comparing the WNBA right now to the NBA in the 70s.
00:27:47.000 During the 70s, The product wasn't particularly good on the court.
00:27:50.000 A lot of thuggish behavior off the court, cocaine problems, crime problems, people punching each other, and just kind of brutal brutality on the court.
00:27:58.000 And people weren't watching it.
00:27:59.000 So it was on tape delay on national TV and all the rest.
00:28:01.000 And the NBA decided it was going to solve its problems by not only drafting a couple stars like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and then featuring them, but also really cleaning up the league in a wide variety of ways.
00:28:10.000 The WNBA is so tied into its own character as a radical left organization that it's alienating a huge component of the American population.
00:28:19.000 And I think that that played out this week.
00:28:22.000 100%.
00:28:23.000 I've got so many thoughts on this, but I think ultimately what it reflects is identity politics destroys everything.
00:28:29.000 Think about this for a minute, just from a pure business perspective, because I like your analogy on the late 70s NBA.
00:28:36.000 Caitlin Clark, whatever you think about her, is the golden goose of WNBA basketball.
00:28:41.000 She comes in and she immediately brings a level of attention, frankly, Ben, that I never believed would happen.
00:28:48.000 This is one I got wrong.
00:28:49.000 I just didn't think people would care enough.
00:28:51.000 I understood they cared about her in college, but we've had a lot of college women's basketball, you know, Geno Oriyama, Pat Summit.
00:28:57.000 There have been a lot of times when women's college basketball mattered because they have a built in fan base.
00:29:02.000 With all of the colleges that people root for, right? 1.00
00:29:05.000 So I thought Caitlin Clark to the WNBA, it's never going to work.
00:29:08.000 It did.
00:29:09.000 Okay.
00:29:10.000 Now, pause.
00:29:11.000 We've seen this happen a couple of times before in the history of sports.
00:29:15.000 Tiger Woods to the PGA.
00:29:16.000 There were some minor snafus when he came into the league, but overwhelmingly, the guys in the PGA suddenly realized, holy crap, we're all going to make a lot more money.
00:29:27.000 The crowds are way bigger.
00:29:29.000 Way more people are watching our events.
00:29:31.000 Tiger Woods was.
00:29:33.000 The rising tide that lifted the entire golf boat.
00:29:37.000 Everybody made more money, right?
00:29:39.000 You have this same situation now playing out.
00:29:41.000 By the way, if you want to say, okay, what about women's sports?
00:29:45.000 Venus and Serena in women's tennis overwhelmingly increased the audience in a positive way.
00:29:51.000 They were welcomed.
00:29:52.000 There are good examples, actually, of sports leagues getting a gift, a star who transcends the entire sport and provides so much more impetus in a positive way. 0.92
00:30:02.000 The WNBA got it.
00:30:04.000 They didn't follow the lead of the WTA. 1.00
00:30:08.000 They didn't follow the lead of the PGA.
00:30:10.000 Heck, they didn't even follow the lead of the UFC. 1.00
00:30:13.000 If you remember, Ronda Rousey came in there and women's fighting suddenly mattered way more. 1.00
00:30:18.000 Instead, they decided this is a black lesbian league. 1.00
00:30:22.000 We're not going to let some straight white girl come in and become the face of our league. 1.00
00:30:27.000 We're going to try to humiliate her. 1.00
00:30:29.000 We're going to try to injure her. 0.85
00:30:30.000 We're going to make it clear we don't want her and we don't want her fans. 1.00
00:30:34.000 We would rather be an unsuccessful black lesbian woke league. 1.00
00:30:38.000 Than a successful league appealing to everyone. 0.97
00:30:42.000 I mean, and that really is the story.
00:30:44.000 It is pretty incredible because, again, if you were just from a marketing perspective going to design a women's league, what you would figure is that your core audience would be number one, people who are fans of women's college basketball.
00:30:53.000 You try to transfer those over and up.
00:30:55.000 And as you say, there's a built in audience for that.
00:30:58.000 And two, people with daughters, right?
00:31:00.000 I have a couple of daughters. 0.63
00:31:01.000 I certainly bring my daughters to a WNBA game, except for the fact that I'm going to get hit with a bunch of radical left wing adjective prop about LGBTQ politics.
00:31:09.000 And guess what?
00:31:10.000 I'm really not interested in doing that. 1.00
00:31:11.000 That's really stupid. 0.99
00:31:12.000 I would much prefer that my daughters, if they're going to watch women's basketball, watch the college game, which is not implicit with any of these biases. 0.99
00:31:19.000 And instead, the league has decided to embrace all of its worst aspects and then to turn potential stars into sort of activists on behalf of the left.
00:31:28.000 I mean, they've decided to aim at legitimately about 2% of the American population when they should be aiming at at least 50% of the American population.
00:31:36.000 Yeah, look, I think your point on dads is so huge here.
00:31:40.000 Men, I know people don't want to talk about it, men are overwhelmingly the majority of sports fans.
00:31:45.000 In fact, men are even the majority of.
00:31:47.000 Women's sports fans, right?
00:31:49.000 And in particular, dads want to share something wholesome with their daughters. 0.69
00:31:54.000 They love to take their daughters, and moms do too.
00:31:56.000 But to your point on dads in particular, this is an audience that could make the WNBA tens of billions of dollars. 1.00
00:32:04.000 If they just leaned into your daughter can one day grow up and be the next Caitlin Clark, she can grow up and be the next superstar in the WNBA.
00:32:12.000 We want to create a wholesome family environment that welcomes families across the board.
00:32:18.000 Instead, they've decided we don't want anyone who voted for Donald Trump, whether they happen to be Caitlin Clark fans or not.
00:32:25.000 We don't want white men to like our league.
00:32:27.000 And by the way, if you criticize it, it's racist. 0.97
00:32:31.000 It's sexist. 0.77
00:32:32.000 It's homophobic. 0.98
00:32:33.000 It's transphobic of you. 0.89
00:32:35.000 How about I just like basketball?
00:32:37.000 And the NBA, Ben, I think partly because of people like you and me who are sports fans, has really, I'm going to give Adam Silver a little bit of credit.
00:32:45.000 They finally started to pivot back to the Republicans by Sneakers 2 era of Jordan, where they appealed to everyone.
00:32:51.000 I think that's a conscious choice. 0.89
00:32:53.000 The WNBA refuses to do it. 1.00
00:32:57.000 I mean, that's exactly right.
00:32:58.000 Listen, there are a lot of left wing players in the NBA.
00:33:01.000 Overwhelmingly, the players in the NBA are undoubtedly voting Democrat. 0.54
00:33:04.000 But the fact is, That the NBA decided that it wasn't going to do the sort of overt Black Lives Matter nonsense it did in 2020.
00:33:09.000 They'd alienated an entire fandom.
00:33:11.000 That's right.
00:33:11.000 And instead, they were just going to focus on the talent of the basketball players.
00:33:14.000 The WNBA has not done that in any way, shape, or form.
00:33:17.000 They actually have some very talented players, people like Paige Buchers, for example, who's scoring like 21 points a game.
00:33:22.000 But the story around Paige Buchers right now is not that she's a great basketball player, it's that she has a relationship with her teammates.
00:33:27.000 I mean, that is not the kind of narrative that is going to drive dads to take their daughters to the game.
00:33:34.000 Ben, back to back number one draft picks are in a relationship.
00:33:39.000 And they were upset.
00:33:40.000 I saw this story.
00:33:41.000 I said, This can't be real.
00:33:43.000 They drafted her girlfriend with the number one overall pick.
00:33:47.000 When, by the way, it was not the case that everybody looked at that and said, Hey, you know what?
00:33:52.000 This is clearly the best player in the league.
00:33:54.000 I think the relationship probably did impact it.
00:33:57.000 I don't know if you've seen this.
00:33:58.000 Last night, I'm scrolling through Twitter, getting ready to go to bed.
00:34:02.000 Paige Buckers and Angel Reese bet $400 on video on the outcome of their game, Ben.
00:34:11.000 I saw this and I said, and the WNBA tweeted it.
00:34:14.000 I said, there's no way this is real.
00:34:16.000 I thought it was AI.
00:34:17.000 I'm doing research on it.
00:34:18.000 I told my wife, she's like, what are you paying attention to?
00:34:20.000 It was like, they're betting on games.
00:34:22.000 Like, this is one of the craziest stories I've ever seen. 0.98
00:34:25.000 And the league shared it, Ben, which I think is probably the stupidest move in the history of online sports in the internet era. 0.70
00:34:34.000 The league itself shared two of its star players betting $400 on a game, which is like 90% of their WNBA weekly salary, probably.
00:34:44.000 So it's like Shohei Otani betting like a million dollars on a game.
00:34:48.000 I couldn't believe this is real.
00:34:50.000 I don't know what the fallout's going to be.
00:34:51.000 I was just looking it up so far this morning.
00:34:54.000 There hasn't been any discussion about comments from the WNBA.
00:34:57.000 This is a big deal.
00:34:58.000 Can you imagine if this was men's sports?
00:35:00.000 It would be everywhere.
00:35:03.000 And there's no chance, by the way, the WNBA is going to shift tactics at all, at all, because the chances they will ever allow an owner who voted for Donald Trump or even thought at one point about voting for Donald Trump to be in the league, they simply will not allow it.
00:35:14.000 The ownership structure is completely filled up with people who are on the radical left.
00:35:18.000 They will not allow expansion to anywhere that is going to lean toward even moderation, politically speaking.
00:35:24.000 And meanwhile, they're just going to live off of subsidies from the NBA.
00:35:26.000 I mean, the reality is that despite the fact that their revenue has been increasing and their ratings have been increasing, they're still running tens of millions of dollars in the red every single year, the WNBA.
00:35:36.000 Yeah, look, this is why I've argued, and I really do think she should look into it, that Caitlin Clark should think about leaving the WNBA and starting her own league of six or eight teams.
00:35:47.000 You know, you look at Sophie Cunningham, who I give credit for saying the absolutely radical idea.
00:35:52.000 Men shouldn't be able to compete in women's sports, boys not in girls' sports.
00:35:57.000 What happened right after she said that, she's playing in Seattle two nights ago.
00:36:02.000 One of the owners of the WNBA franchise in Seattle cursed out teenage girls who showed up at the Seattle game to cheer for Sophie Cunningham.
00:36:13.000 Now, they've reportedly suspended this owner for five games, but can you imagine running a women's sports league, cursing out teenage girls who have shown up at your game to support a player who had the radical position of,
00:36:27.000 Men shouldn't be able to play in women's sports.
00:36:30.000 I mean, there's a reason it's the WNBA, Ben, because obviously none of these women would have any hope if you watch the highlight reels. 1.00
00:36:37.000 Frankly, I don't think I bet a million dollars on it. 0.91
00:36:39.000 They wouldn't take it up.
00:36:41.000 A boys' high school state championship team in any state would destroy the WNBA champion.
00:36:47.000 They know it, which is why they wouldn't take my million dollar bet.
00:36:51.000 That's Clay Travis.
00:36:52.000 You can check out all of his work over at X and beyond.
00:36:56.000 Also, check out his podcast.
00:36:57.000 He's the founder of OutKick.
00:36:58.000 Go check him out.
00:36:58.000 Clay Travis, thanks so much for the time.
00:37:01.000 Thanks, Ben.
00:37:02.000 Keep up the good work.
00:37:03.000 What an amazing video you just watched.
00:37:05.000 Wasn't that amazing?
00:37:06.000 Well, you know, if you think so, head on over to dailywire.comslash subscribe to watch the full show ad free or check out this crazy story here.