During an appearance on former first lady Michelle Obama\u2019s \u201cIMO\u201d podcast<\/a> in late April, Reese admitted she would rather face fines than a continued icy relationship with reporters throughout the WNBA season.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ll take a fine before I have to go media and feel like my back is against the wall,\u201d Reese said.<\/p>\n
![\"United](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/15-acknowledges-fans-game-south-43964755.jpg\")
United States forward Megan Rapinoe (15) acknowledges fans after game against South Africa in her last national team appearance at Soldier Field. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con<\/p>\n
Rapinoe staunchly defended Reese\u2019s stance about the media during an episode of her podcast \u201cA Touch More\u201d on Thursday, saying it\u2019s a \u201creally great example of her taking her power back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel was set up as a villain before she was even in the WNBA, and now she\u2019s making it clear that she\u2019s gonna protect her peace,\u201d she said. \u201cThe media landscape is changing rapidly in women\u2019s sports, and of course, the W, as always, is out front.<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel isn\u2019t saying that she\u2019s never gonna do media, but she is saying that she won\u2019t just stand up and take anything that\u2019s thrown at her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the season, athletes are typically required to participate in media availabilities and news conferences, but Rapinoe argued that WNBA players should reconsider the standards around sports media.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Angel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/angel-reese-5-atlanta-dream-126664490.jpg\")
Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream looks on during the second quarter against the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena on April 29, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really about like a new level of respect across the board. There needs to be a quality of journalism that is at the level of these athletes,\u201d Rapinoe said.<\/p>\n
Rapinoe added that Reese\u2019s comments make for a good example for all athletes to fight for better expectations from the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like this was obviously something Angel is doing for herself because of her personal experience, but I think this is a great example for all athletes and all female athletes of, \u2018I don\u2019t really have to do this,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt might mean I get a fine, but at some point, we have to adjust the expectations that journalists can just go up there and throw any kind of narrative. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019re the ones, athletes are the ones who are going to either field that or dispel that or say it\u2019s not true or try and combat it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reese, who was drafted by the Sky in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Draft, was traded to the Dream<\/a> in April after she threatened Chicago to go in a \u201cdifferent direction\u201d at the end of its 10-34 season last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Megan Rapinoe has Angel Reese\u2019s back over her recent comments about handling the media. During an appearance on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3691,3444,438,66039,25248,403,99,1625,3015,132456,434],"class_list":["post-630006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-angel-reese","tag-atlanta-dream","tag-chicago-sky","tag-megan-rapinoe","tag-michelle-obama","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-sports-entertainment","tag-sports-media","tag-us-womens-national-soccer-team","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}