Hilton Grand Vacations fired an employee after the individual allegedly sent a racist message to Chelsea Gray of the Aces on social media.
Gray shared a screenshot of a direct message she received on Instagram following Sunday’s loss to the Fever, showing a hateful message that included a racial slur.
Eagled-eyed social media users quickly identified the person as an employee of Hilton Grand Vacations, which is an independent timeshare company. After initially saying that it was “investigating” the employee, the company said in a statement to Front Office Sports that the person had been fired.
“The person responsible for posting this information is no longer with the company. His behavior was in violation of multiple company policies and does not reflect our company’s values in any way,” Hilton Grand Vacations said in a statement.
Hilton Grand Vacations was spun off from the Hilton Worldwide hotel group in 2017.
Front Office Sports reported that the WNBA is also aware of the message sent to the four-time champion and got in touch with team security.
A frustrated Gray captioned the screenshot sharing the racist message: “People act like we make this s–t up. And the audacity to tell us as athletes to ‘shut up and dribble.’”
Front Office Sports indicated the remarks were potentially linked to gambling, with the user’s profile including the words “sports betting” in the bio of the now-deactivated Instagram account.
This incident is the latest in a line of WNBA players fearing over hate and threats they’ve received.
Mercury star Alyssa Thomas said she received death threats following a controversial dustup where she appeared to come down on superstar Caitlin Clark’s neck with her arm during a game against the Fever.
