The Indiana Fever edged out the Chicago Sky 90-86 on Saturday. However, a first-quarter ejection of DiJonai Carrington overshadowed the close win as the Sky guard committed a hard foul on Sophie Cunningham.
Following a review, officials upgraded the penalty from a Flagrant 1 to a Flagrant 2, triggering an automatic ejection for Carrington. Shortly after exiting the tunnel, Carrington took to Threads and posted a highly controversial accusation, penning, “WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever.”
Screenshots of the post circulated across social platforms, with Cunningham and the Fever also seeing the post. While everyone was waiting to see how the Fever’s guard reacted, a video suddenly went viral on Instagram with the caption, “Sophie Cunningham RIPS INTO DiJonai Carrington after Indiana Fever defeat the Chicago Sky.”
In it, Cunningham could be seen calling Carrington “probably the dirtiest player in the league.. She definitely learned well from Angel Reese… I think she’s jealous of my natural blonde hair. She’ll never have this hair. I literally got clothes lined in the air, and this clown has to turn it into race.”
It is no secret that fake videos of players like Cunningham can be used to generate clicks and views. That appears to be what happened here. The viral video is completely fake, with old footage of Cunningham edited with a synthesized AI voice.
Cunningham does not have a history of tearing down her rivals this way. Moreover, her lips in the clip do not properly match the words, while the voice sounds noticeably robotic.
The fake video quickly went viral on Instagram. However, Cunningham’s mismatched lip movements and the robotic-sounding voice exposed the clip as an AI-generated fake. Attention can now turn back to Cunningham’s actual reaction to Carrington’s post.
What Sophie Cunningham said about DiJonai Carrington’s post
During her postgame interview, Sophie Cunningham spoke bluntly about the hard foul and Carrington’s Threads post. She called the foul intentional and said Carrington had no reason to act that way. Cunningham also described the entire situation as attention-seeking.
“Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary,” Cunningham told ESPN’s Kareem Copeland. “I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her. … Yeah, it’s intentional. She wasn’t even on the team. She has no reason to be doing any of that. So, good way to get her kicked out.”
On Carrington’s Threads post, Cunningham added:
“This has nothing to do with race. Last year, I did the same thing, and I got kicked out. And I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason even to play that card.”
Carrington finished with eight points before her early ejection, while Cunningham tallied three points and two steals in the win. Indiana will look to maintain its momentum on Tuesday when hosting the New York Liberty, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Edited by R. Elahi