Feb 20
Out WNBA Star Brittney Griner Cancels Appearance after Finding Threatening Note
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Out women's basketball star Brittney Griner canceled a speaking appearance and left a hotel after finding "threatening objects" in her room, along with a cryptic message, reports say.
"Griner, 34, was set to speak at the Women Grow 2025 Leadership Summit, dedicated to cannabis policy and industry, in National Harbor, Maryland, on Monday when she found the note and left," NBC News detailed.
The message "Gay Baby Jail" was scrawled on a piece of tape in Griner's room. The star athlete endured months in a Russian prison after being placed under arrest for possessing vaping cartridges containing cannabis oil while in Moscow. She pled guilty to possession charges, but maintained that having brought an illegal substance into Russia was inadvertent. Griner has a medical marijuana card.
"Despite the fact Griner had broken a law in Russia with the possession of her vape cartridges," UK newspaper the Daily Mail recounted, "the response from the Russian legal system gave her case the hallmarks of hostage diplomacy."
"The typical sentence in Russia for Griner's case was no more than 15 days in jail."
Griner was freed after 10 months thanks to a prisoner swap brokered by the Biden administration.
Reports said that from what investigators gleaned, it seemed the message bore no intentional reference to either Griner's sexuality or the trauma of her imprisonment.
"Detectives said they learned that the phrase 'gay baby jail' is commonly used as a video game reference," NBC News said. "Police noted that at the time the tape was discovered, a large convention was taking place at the resort that attracts a crowd interested in anime and video game enthusiasts."
"The Gaylord assured us that the conference and its guests were safe," Chanda Macias, the CEO of Women Grow, said in a statement, adding: "they have represented that the threat at issue was a meme joke left by a prior guest and unfortunately missed by cleaning staff."
Macias went on to offer a supportive message: "Regardless of whether this was a targeted attack or an unfortunate coincidence, the entire Women Grow community and I wholeheartedly support Brittney's decision and stand with her at this time."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
