Sophie Cunningham revealed she was hit with a $500 fine from the WNBA after she posted a TikTok video poking fun at game officials. The Indiana Fever guard posted on X that she found the situation “funny.”
The video, which has gained significant traction with over 1.3 million views, features Cunningham lip-syncing to Sabrina Carpenter’s song “Manchild.” The caption “@ some refs” accompanies the clip, and the lyrics heard in the video (“Stupid. Or is it slow? Maybe, it’s useless”), which appears to be aimed at the referees. “Just trolling,” she added in the caption.
“I got fined $500 for this TikTok. idk why this is funny to me,” Cunningham posted on X. “Like ok. You got it bud! Cause there’s not more important things to be worried about with our league right now.”
Cunningham posted the video after the heated Fever matchup against the Connecticut Sun, where teammate Caitlin Clark had a tense verbal exchange with a referee. During the same game, Cunningham endured physical contact, including an uncalled elbow to the face, which went unnoticed by officials.
Cunningham was also fined earlier this year after being hit with a flagrant 2 foul for her part in a postgame scuffle following a mid-June matchup between the Fever and the Connecticut Sun. She was handed an additional fine for her involvement in the altercation that broke out after the initial foul.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks on the WNBA referees
All season long, WNBA players and coaches have taken issue with the league’s officiating. Fines have also been a sore spot, since the league rarely makes them public. That lack of transparency has sparked complaints about uneven punishment and confusion over how decisions are made.
The issue reached the league’s leadership. At a press conference ahead of the WNBA All-Star Game, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed the scrutiny surrounding officiating, indicating that the league is listening but stopping short of announcing specific reforms.
“We hear the concerns. We take that employee input,” Engelbert said. “Every play is reviewed. We spend hours and hours and hours. Obviously, we use that then to follow up with officials’ training.”
This isn’t the first instance of the Fever drawing league penalties for speaking out about officiating. Earlier this season, head coach Stephanie White was fined after publicly criticizing the WNBA’s consistency following a loss to the Washington Mystics.