US swimmer did not reject ‘$3 million partnership with Nike’

Former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines has not rejected a multimillion-dollar partnership with Nike on account of the brand being “woke.” The claim shared online stems from a parody website.

A media representative for The Riley Gaines Center, an initiative led by Gaines advocating to keep trans women out of sports (rileygainescenter.org/) at the conservative non-profit Leadership Institute (here), said in an email to Reuters that the claim is false.

 

An image of the former University of Kentucky swimmer in front of a swimming pool has text which reads: “Riley Gaines Turns Down $3 Million Partnership With Nike.” The post also claims that Gaines said, “I’m not saving your woke brand.”
A logo of the parody website network “America’s Last Line Of Defense” and a “Satire Rated” are visible at the bottom right corner of the image.

Regardless, the claim was taken seriously online with one Facebook user sharing the image with the caption, “Go WOKE…go Broke….” (here).

 

The meme was first shared by the official America’s Last Line of Defense Facebook page (here). The account’s bio reads: “Liberal Trolls Masquerading as Conservatives Since 2016,” and carries the disclaimer, “Nothing on this page is real.”
A comment under the image links to an article on the website “Dunning Kruger Times” (shorturl.at/qrtxW), which identifies itself as part of the “America’s Last Line of Defense” satire network. The “About Us” section of the website states, “Everything on this website is fiction”

Gaines previously spoke out against Nike for its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April (here), (here).
Speaking on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” in April 2023, she commented on Mulvaney’s Nike deal saying, “I don’t know if they can understand the mockery of what this makes of women,” and added that she does not anticipate that she will be offered a partnership with the brand (here) (timestamp 10:26 – 11:40).