Imagine reading a news story that says a woman deserved to get hit in the face. That is exactly what happened last Saturday when Sports Illustrated published a headline claiming Sophie Cunningham got her “karma.” The magazine suggested the WNBA star earned a violent foul because she supports women-only sports. Fans were furious at the idea that a player should be bashed for her opinions.
The incident occurred during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky. DiJonai Carrington of the Sky delivered a clothesline foul that sent Cunningham to the floor. The referee called it a flagrant two, which is the most severe foul in the book. Breitbartreported that the magazine’s headline read, “Sophie Cunningham Got a Bitter Taste of Karma after Drawing Flagrant Foul in Fever-Sky.”
This was not just a bad choice of words. The headline implied Cunningham brought the violence on herself. It linked the physical hit directly to her stance on biological men playing in women’s leagues. Breitbart noted the story was written by Kristen Wong. The backlash was immediate and loud. Readers demanded an explanation for such a hateful take.
Cunningham did not stay silent after the hit. She jumped up and had to be held back by her own teammates. She told reporters the move was clearly unnecessary. “Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary,” Cunningham said after the game.
She made it clear she had no personal fight with Carrington. “I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent-up stuff,” she explained. Then she delivered a line that showed her toughness. “So, get your s— off. That’s fine. I can take it.” She also noted she didn’t say a word to the other player during the game.
The foul was so bad it caught the eye of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. He saw the video and warned that he would prosecute such acts as assault. The AG posted the footage on social media, saying, “The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida, because I’ll be charging people with assault.” This shows how serious the hit was, beyond just a basketball game.
The pressure on Sports Illustrated worked. Hours after the story went live, the magazine quietly changed its headline. Fox News reported that the new version read, “Sophie Cunningham’s Enforcer Role Gets Reversed Onto Her With Hard Foul in Fever-Sky.” They removed the word “karma” and the suggestion that she deserved the hit.
The original headline had linked the foul to Cunningham’s support for keeping biological men out of women’s sports. She had shared this view in an interview with ESPN at the end of July. The magazine’s initial reaction turned a sports incident into a political attack. It tried to paint the victim as the aggressor in the court of public opinion.