Hilton Grand Vacations has terminated an employee following allegations that the individual sent a racially offensive message to Aces player Chelsea Gray via social media.
Gray revealed the offensive direct message on Instagram after her team’s Sunday defeat to the Fever, highlighting the distressing use of a racial slur within the message.
Social media users swiftly identified the sender as an employee of Hilton Grand Vacations, a standalone timeshare company. Initially stating that an investigation was underway, the company later confirmed to Front Office Sports that the employee had been dismissed.
“The individual responsible has been removed from our employment. This behavior violates numerous company policies and does not align with our values,” read a statement from Hilton Grand Vacations.
In 2017, Hilton Grand Vacations was separated from the Hilton Worldwide hotel group to operate independently.
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.