A baseless rumor circulating widely on social media falsely claims that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made a revelation about WNBA star Brittney Griner’s gender and that the league plans to introduce mandatory “sex testing” for its players.
The fabricated story gained significant traction in August, notably through a Facebook post by a page named “Today in America,” which garnered tens of thousands of reactions and shares. The post, which also appeared on other platforms like Threads, linked to a blog article detailing the false claims.
However, there is no evidence to support these assertions. No reputable news organizations have reported on any such announcement from either the White House or the WNBA. A White House official confirmed that the story is “obviously fake.” A comprehensive search of credible news archives and search engines reveals no corroborating information, which would be expected for a story of this magnitude.
The disinformation appears to be a clickbait scheme designed to generate advertising revenue. According to Facebook’s page transparency data, some individuals managing the pages spreading the rumor are based in Vietnam. Additionally, some posts promoting the false narrative utilized inauthentic, AI-generated media.
The false claims target Brittney Griner, an Atlanta Dream center who has previously spoken about being misunderstood due to her 6-foot-9-inch frame and deep voice. In a 2015 ESPN interview, she discussed being bullied as a child and mistaken for a man as an adult.
Griner’s public profile was elevated in 2022 following her arrest and 10-month detention in Russia on drug charges. Her detention ended with a high-profile prisoner exchange negotiated by the U.S. government. This is not the first time Griner has been the subject of online disinformation.
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