DiJonai Carrington Says “White Privlege” Comment Wasn’t About Foul on Sophie Cunningham

Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington pushed back Monday against former NFL linebacker and podcaster Emmanuel Acho, rejecting his characterization of her social media post following her ejection from Saturday’s game against the Indiana Fever.

Carrington was ejected late in the first quarter of the Sky’s 90-86 loss after officials upgraded her foul on Fever guard Sophie Cunningham to a Flagrant 2. Video of the play shows Carrington contacting Cunningham in the head and neck area from behind as Cunningham attempted a transition layup. Cunningham fell to the floor, got up and confronted Carrington before the players were separated. Officials initially called a Flagrant 1 before the review led to the automatic ejection.

Shortly after leaving the game, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on Threads and tagged the Indiana Fever. The post quickly circulated and drew widespread reaction.

I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption). 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”,… https://t.co/mykXGTtiXJ

— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) August 10, 2026

Acho, the host of the Speakeasy podcast, criticized the post both on social media and on his show. On X, he wrote that Carrington “posted ‘White Privilege’ from the locker room after being ejected for fouling Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham” and added, “Judge for yourself, but color didn’t have nothing to do with the flagrant 2. IMO.”

On Speakeasy, Acho went further: “It was not a race-based decision. And to call that a white privilege-based foul is to completely undermine the term of white privilege and to also completely ignore the rules in basketball. You hit her in the head. You drew blood. You didn’t connect with the ball at all whatsoever. So to me, it was just very ignorant and, to some degree, asinine by D.J. Carrington to suggest that that call was based on white privilege. Have we seen examples of white players make that same foul and get away with it? Have we seen examples of Black players make that same foul and get away with it? Yes. There was no white privilege involved in that specific call.”

On Monday, Carrington quoted one of Acho’s posts and responded directly on X:

“I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption). 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. 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.”

Carrington, a Stanford and Baylor product, did not further explain in the post what she intended by “WHITE PRIVILEGE” when she tagged the Fever after the ejection.

Acho later replied, acknowledging that his assumption—and that of “the majority of the sports world”—was that the post referred to the foul call because of its timing. “But if the two things are somehow not connected, that’s on me. I’ll stand corrected,” he wrote. He added that “America is a speaker oriented country, so the burden is on you for being clear, direct and easy to understand.”

Cunningham addressed the original Threads post after Saturday’s game, saying it had nothing to do with race. “Last year I did the same thing. I got kicked out, as I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason to even play that card,” she said, referring to her own prior ejection for a hard foul. Cunningham also described Carrington’s contact as intentional and suggested it was done for attention.

Sky coach Tyler Marsh said after the game that he had only just learned of the post when asked about it and that the team would handle the matter. Carrington was not made available to reporters Saturday. The Sky were scheduled to face the Seattle Storm on Monday.

The incident has drawn reactions from other former players and commentators, many of whom focused on the severity of the contact rather than race. The WNBA had not issued a public statement on either the foul or the social media post as of Monday afternoon.

Flip the pages for photos of DiJonai Carrington if that is all you are here for.