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Nike did not end its partnership with WNBA star Brittney Griner in August 2024, according to a spokesperson for Griner, who addressed misleading social media posts sharing a false headline via Reuters.
Just days after Brittney Griner, who recently became ‘pops’, secured a gold medal with the USA women’s basketball team at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Aug. 11, Facebook posts surfaced with a headline and link to a Vietnamese website falsely claiming that Nike had terminated its contract with the athlete due to “backlash from the online community.”
Calder Hynes, Griner’s spokesperson, confirmed in an Aug. 20 email to Reuters that these posts were untrue, emphasizing that Griner still has an active partnership with Nike. There is no evidence of Nike making any such announcement.
In fact, Griner was featured in a recent Nike commercial posted on X on Aug. 11 and mentioned in a press release that same day, celebrating the USA basketball team’s Olympic victory.
Contrary to the false reports, nothing on Nike’s website (even after searching archived versions) indicates that they had terminated their contract with Brittney Griner. Instead, she appeared in a video on Nike’s X feed as recently as August 11, 2024. Nike had released a powerful commercial for Team USA women’s basketball, commemorating their gold medal win at the Paris Olympics.
The commercial showcases images of the women’s Olympic team, including Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi, and Sabrina Ionescu, playing basketball against the backdrop of dramatic music.
“It’s inspiring when we think about it. Every four years, teams come from around the world to compete… for second place,” the narrator says in voiceover.
Nike released this video on social media following Team USA’s narrow victory over France, 67-66, securing their eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
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Griner, who signed a $1 million contract with Nike, spoke about how the partnership opened doors for the LGBTQ community. Reflecting on her contract with Nike, she said, “It was really important to partner with Nike, as I believe in what they are doing.”
She shared that she wasn’t always 6’8″ tall and endured a lot of bullying for being different. Though she continues to face online harassment, she has grown so comfortable with herself that it no longer affects her.
In 2019, Nike highlighted its commitment to the LGBTQ+ community with a video featuring several prominent LGBTQ+ athletes as part of its BeTrue campaign during Pride month. The video included basketball players Sue Bird and Brittney Griner, triathlete Chris Mosier, and track star Caster Semenya. That year, Nike also provided financial support to various LGBTQ organizations.
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