Brittney Griner partners with Disney, ESPN for projects to share story about Russia imprisonment

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Brittney Griner has partnered with Disney and ESPN to share her story of being imprisoned in Russia.

The WNBA star partnered with the company for a documentary, an exclusive interview with ABC, and a possible scripted series on her detainment.

“The last two years have been the most harrowing, transformative and illuminating period of my life, and I am grateful to be in a place now to share my story with the world,” Griner said in a statement announcing the projects., via the New York Post.

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Brittney Griner of the Mercury dribbles the ball against the Las Vegas Aces on Sept. 8, 2023, at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images)

 “Throughout BG’s detainment and in the time since, ESPN, ABC and Disney were supportive and caring in regards to the human side of this saga,” her wife, Cherelle, said in a statement of her own. “Love and family were at the center of the fight to get BG home, and with that in mind, there is no better, more trusted partner to tell that story with us.”

Cherelle will serve as an executive producer on the projects.

The 33-year-old was arrested in February 2022 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after authorities discovered vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage. 

She was sentenced to nine years in August after pleading guilty to drug charges but was traded for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in a controversial prisoner exchange in December. She arrived back on U.S. soil Dec. 9.

Brittney Griner in the defendants' cage

Brittney Griner sits inside a defendants’ cage during the reading of the court’s verdict in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, Aug. 4, 2022. (Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool)

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Bout, who is known internationally as the “Merchant of Death,” was serving 25 years in federal prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to kill Americans relating to the support of a Colombian terrorist organization.

The swap outraged some Americans who argued the U.S. gave up way too much in exchange for the WNBA star. Griner had been ridiculed for saying the national anthem should not be played before sporting events, but she has since changed her stance.

Griner has recently suited up for Team USA in exhibition games against women’s college basketball teams.

Brittney Griner with Team USA

Brittney Griner of Team USA during an exhibition game against the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 12, 2023, in Durham, North Carolina. (Lance King/Getty Images)

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American officials, most notably President Biden, were also criticized for not including in the exchange Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine veteran convicted of espionage charges he says are false. He is serving a 16-year sentence.

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