Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington found herself bang in the middle of controversy Saturday after a hard foul on Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham brought a Flagrant 2 and an ejection.
Soon after, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on social media and tagged the Fever. That message quickly became the talking point.
While Carrington offered more context on her post, former Los Angeles Chargers tackle Breiden Fehoko was not buying it.
Former Charger Breiden Fehoko Calls Out DiJonai Carrington
Carrington took to X to claim that critics were blowing her comment out of proportion.
“I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption),” she said. “Try exercising your critical thinking skills. I know you studied psych. Furthermore, I’m the LAST thing from ignorant or asinine when it comes to speaking on “white privilege.” Do ya research on that one.
“I actually went to school, one of the top universities might I add, to educate myself on this exact subject,” she added. “I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds without having the proper evidence to substantiate it.”
However, Fehoko rejected that explanation.
“You just said a whole bunch of nothing. Your very first words after getting ejected in the locker room was “White Privilege” while the game was still going on,” he wrote.
Fehoko argued that Carrington was trying to clean up a comment made in the heat of the moment.
“It don’t matter where you went to school, how you dress up this post, throwing sugar on [expletive] don’t make it smell better. You know exactly what you meant when you tweeted that out, and now you’re using a whole lot of nothing to PR clean up.”
Then, the former NFLer called the move a classic case of “gaslighting.”
“This is legit gaslighting. If you feel that way from an emotional standpoint, which you did after getting ejected, then fine, let it be! But gaslighting days later like you didn’t say this from an emotional standpoint is crazy to me.”
The incident unfolded during Saturday’s matchup between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever. DiJonai Carrington went up to contest Sophie Cunningham’s shot near the rim. However, as Carrington closed the gap, her swipe caught Cunningham in the head and sent her crashing to the floor.
As a result, officials assessed Carrington with a Flagrant 2. The call quickly sparked a scuffle, with Cunningham appearing to throw a punch and make contact with Carrington.
Still, Carrington took the bigger punishment. Officials ejected her, while Cunningham stayed in the game. The hard fall clearly frustrated her, especially after taking the blow to her head before hitting the floor.
Then, with emotions still running high, Carrington went to Threads and posted the words “White Privilege” while tagging the Fever.
The game had not even reached halftime when Carrington made the post. That decision quickly shifted attention from the foul itself to the message that followed, and the timing became a major part of the backlash.
For critics such as Fehoko, the sequence made Carrington’s later explanation much harder to accept.
