Hilton Grand Vacations has fired an employee who sent a racist direct message to Las Vegas Aces star Chelsea Gray following the team’s blowout loss to the Indiana Fever. The company confirmed the firing on Tuesday, July 14, two days after Gray received the slur following Las Vegas’ 109-75 defeat.
Gray exposed the message on her Instagram Story the day before, sharing a screenshot of the sender calling her an “ugly ass [n-word].” The four-time WNBA champion pushed back against those who dismiss the harassment players routinely face. “People act like we just make this sh*t up,” Gray wrote. “And the audacity to tell us as athletes to ‘shut up and dribble.’”
Social media users soon began examining the account and linking its owner to Hilton Grand Vacations through posts that tagged the company. The online attention quickly moved beyond another anonymous troll account as users circulated a LinkedIn profile that appeared to identify the sender and his employer.
Hilton Grand Vacations initially told The New York Times that it was “aware of the allegations” before announcing that the employee had been dismissed.
“The person responsible for posting this information is no longer with the company,” Hilton Grand Vacations said in a follow-up statement. “His behavior was in violation of multiple company policies and does not reflect our company’s values in any way.”
The Aces also issued a forceful statement supporting Gray and praising Hilton Grand Vacations for acting quickly. “The Las Vegas Aces organization unequivocally condemns the hateful and racist messages recently directed at Chelsea Gray,” the team said, per USA Today. “No athlete should ever face this type of abuse for playing the game they love.”
The organization added that it does not tolerate hate speech “online, in the arena, or anywhere within our community” and offered its “unwavering support” to players across the WNBA facing racism and harassment.
Gray was not the only WNBA player targeted over the weekend. Per the Times, Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams received a hateful Instagram audio message after recording 12 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday’s 90-85 victory over the New York Liberty. The sender blamed Williams for finishing with only one assist, which reportedly cost the sender a player-prop wager.
The incidents come amid the WNBA’s explosive growth, which has brought larger audiences and intensified online rivalries—but also more racist abuse, threats and harassment directed disproportionately at Black, queer and female players.
