Donald Trump Jr. is once again at the center of controversy after posting a provocative meme on Instagram that has drawn widespread condemnation and reignited debate over the treatment of women athletes. On August 7, 2025, Trump Jr. shared an edited image depicting his father, former President Donald Trump, standing atop the White House and hurling a neon green sex toy onto a women’s basketball court. The meme was accompanied by the caption, “Posted without further comment,” punctuated with laughing emojis. By the next day, the post had racked up over 100,000 likes but also a torrent of criticism from across the internet and the sports world.
The meme did not emerge in a vacuum. It was a direct reference to a disturbing trend that has plagued the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) since late July 2025: audience members throwing sex toys—specifically neon green dildos—onto the court during games. According to The Athletic, the first such incident occurred on July 29 at the Gateway Center Arena in Georgia, during a matchup between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream. Since then, at least six similar disruptions have been reported at games across the country, including a high-profile incident on August 5 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where a toy landed at the feet of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
These acts, far from being harmless pranks, have been widely condemned by players, coaches, fans, and league officials as both dangerous and deeply disrespectful. The WNBA issued a forceful statement emphasizing, “The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league. Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans. In line with WNBA Arena Security Standards, any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum one-year ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities.”
The safety concerns are not hypothetical. Following the first incident in Georgia, the fan responsible was arrested, ejected from the arena, and banned for at least a year. In Phoenix, an 18-year-old man was taken into custody after police said he threw a sex toy that struck a man and his 9-year-old niece. Such disruptions have led to heightened security measures, including stricter bag policies at arenas and increased cooperation with law enforcement.
For players like Sophie Cunningham, the incidents have been more than just a distraction. Cunningham, who had publicly pleaded with fans not to throw objects onto the court, narrowly avoided being hit during the Los Angeles Sparks-Indiana Fever game. Her plea was met with a barrage of memes and ridicule online, highlighting the toxic environment female athletes often face. Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve summed up the sentiment of many in the league, telling The Athletic, “The sexualization of women is what’s used to hold women down, and this is no different. These people that are doing this should be held accountable. We’re not the butt of the joke, they’re the problem.”
But what motivated these disruptions? Investigations by news outlets such as The Athletic and Newsweek have traced the incidents to an intersection of internet meme culture and cryptocurrency speculation. A memecoin called Green Dildo Coin was launched on July 28, just a day before the first sex toy was thrown onto a WNBA court. The coin’s value nearly tripled in its first week, buoyed by the viral attention generated by the stunts. Livestreams and chat groups on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram revealed that some community members encouraged and celebrated the acts, viewing them as both a joke and a means of boosting the coin’s visibility and price. “This is empowering to every f—ing crypto community to start thinking outside the box. Get creative and f—ing do something that makes people actually laugh. Memecoins should make you laugh,” said one participant in a livestream, according to The Athletic.
The meme posted by Trump Jr. was thus not just a random jab at the WNBA but a nod to this ongoing viral trend—one that has been widely decried as misogynistic. Commentators in publications like Cosmopolitan and Glamour have argued that the intent behind the disruptions is clear: “The intent is to sexualize and demean the women players because they are women,” wrote Glamour. An op-ed in Cosmopolitan went further, stating, “There are people paying good money to attend a professional basketball game just to throw a (sex toy) at the players’ feet. Why? To send a message; to tell women that they don’t belong on the court and that their athleticism isn’t as valuable as their sexuality. This is misogyny, plain and simple.”
Reaction to Trump Jr.’s post was swift and polarized. While some right-wing figures, including Brian Glenn—a White House reporter for Real America’s Voice and boyfriend of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene—praised the post (“Greatest IG account. Ever”), others were appalled. Social media users questioned whether Trump Jr. would find it funny if his own daughter were targeted in such a way. Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan commented, “Remember these are the same people who bash trans people because they care about ‘women’s sports’. Er, ok.” The top comment on Trump Jr.’s post demanded, “So funny! Now RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES.”
This is not the first time Trump Jr. has used memes to stoke controversy or troll political adversaries. He has a long history of sharing doctored images—sometimes targeting his father’s opponents, sometimes lampooning cultural flashpoints. In the past, he has posted a fake photo of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in lingerie and made jokes about the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago. His latest meme, however, has struck a particularly raw nerve, coming at a moment when the WNBA and its supporters are demanding greater respect and safety for women athletes.
The league, for its part, has vowed to continue investigating the incidents and to hold perpetrators accountable. Terri Jackson, executive director of the WNBA players’ union, said the league is aware of attempts to incentivize these stunts and is working with law enforcement and security personnel to prevent further disruptions. “The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority,” the WNBA reiterated in its statement.
As the meme coin’s value fluctuates and the internet’s attention shifts, the impact on the athletes and the league remains. For many, the incidents have served as a stark reminder of the challenges women face in professional sports—where respect, safety, and dignity are still not guaranteed. Whether the viral trend will fade or morph into something else is uncertain, but the message from the WNBA and its players is clear: they refuse to be the punchline of someone else’s joke.
