{{Short description|2023 film by Jeremy Boreing}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox film | name = Lady Ballers | image = Lady_Ballers_Poster.jpg | alt = | caption = Teaser poster | director = Jeremy Boreing | writer = {{Plainlist| * Jeremy Boreing * Brian Hoffman * Nick Sheehan }} | producer = {{Plainlist| * Jeremy Boreing * Dallas Sonnier }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Jeremy Boreing * Billie Rae Brandt * Daniel Considine * Jake Crain * David Cone * Blain Crain }} | cinematography = Kristopher Kimlin | editing = Jared Bently | music = {{Plainlist| * Will Boreing * Kyle McCuiston }} | studio = Bonfire Legend | distributor = The Daily Wire | released = {{Film date|2023|12|01}} | runtime = 110 minutes | country = United States | language = English | gross = }}
'''''Lady Ballers''''' is a 2023 American sports comedy film starring, directed and co-written by Jeremy Boreing, former co-CEO of conservative media company ''The Daily Wire''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Holmes |first=Helen |date=November 30, 2023 |title=Ted Cruz Has Cameo in Anti-Trans 'Comedy' 'Lady Ballers' |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/ted-cruz-has-cameo-in-anti-trans-comedy-lady-ballers |access-date=November 30, 2023 |website=The Daily Beast |archive-date=November 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129085905/https://www.thedailybeast.com/ted-cruz-has-cameo-in-anti-trans-comedy-lady-ballers |url-status=live }}</ref> It also stars Daniel Considine, David Cone, Tyler Fischer and Daily Wire hosts Jake and Blain Crain. Boreing plays a down-on-his-luck-coach who will do anything to win, even bring his old male basketball team together to compete in women's sports.
The film has cameos from Daily Wire contributors and other prominent right-wing figures. Senator Ted Cruz, actress and YouTuber Brett Cooper, political commentator Candace Owens, and former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines all made cameo appearances as themselves.<ref>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Ryan |date=November 28, 2023 |title=Ted Cruz Stars in Transgender Basketball Movie |url=https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-stars-transgender-basketball-movie-lady-ballers-1847630 |website=Newsweek |access-date=November 29, 2023 |archive-date=November 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129050218/http://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-stars-transgender-basketball-movie-lady-ballers-1847630 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Condon |first=Ali |date=November 29, 2023 |title=Ted Cruz appears in 'inherently unfunny' transphobic sports film Lady Ballers |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/11/29/ted-cruz-transphobic-film-lady-ballers/ |website=PinkNews |access-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207205512/https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/11/29/ted-cruz-transphobic-film-lady-ballers/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, Andrew Klavan, and Jordan Peterson all make appearances. The film is the debut of Billie Rae Brandt and Rosie Seraphine Harper.
==Plot== In 2008, coach Rob Gibson leads his high school boys' basketball team to victory in a third back-to-back state championship in Nashville. Fifteen years later, Rob finds himself in the midst of a divorce and is fired from his coaching position. Desperate, Rob accepts a job at a drag queen restaurant, where he finds his former star point guard, Alex Cruise, also working. Rob begins coaching Alex to compete in a track and field competition for money.
After Alex is mistakenly believed to be transgender, Rob convinces him to compete in the women's competition. Alex easily wins every event, gaining the attention of local reporter, Gwen Wilde, who persuades them to work with her as a means to become famous.
Rob and Alex reassemble their championship basketball team to compete in a women's basketball league as transgender athletes. Initially skeptical, the team is convinced of the plan by Rob's 8-year-old daughter, after she explains gender identity concepts to them.
The Lady Ballers dominate their opponents, quickly gaining celebrity status. Gwen comes on to Rob sexually. Their newfound fame soon causes the team to play in all women's sports and little girls' sports, and Rob's actions strain his already fragile relationship with his disapproving ex-wife, especially after his daughter tells him she wants to be a boy because boys are winners. However, he assures her that girls are better than men at things such as building community, raising families and encouraging civility, telling her, "no women, no world".
When Alex tells Rob that he is beginning to believe he is actually transgender, Rob physically assaults him, striking him in the genitals. Rob asks Gwen if their actions are negatively affecting the female athletes, and an angry Gwen orchestrates a plan to put the Lady Ballers up against a team of African American men who also claim to be transgender.
The Lady Ballers find themselves losing badly at halftime and, after Gwen attempts to kill Rob with a sniper rifle, he arranges for his daughter and a team of her friends to replace the Lady Ballers. The opposing team plays lightheartedly against the little girls, letting them pass to each other and lifting them up to slam dunk the ball, but still wins by 400 points. Rob reconciles with his ex-wife and the Lady Ballers officially disband. Rob builds a recreation center for little girls and it is revealed that Rob's ex-wife's hippie boyfriend is actually Matt Walsh, having orchestrated their reconciliation for the "sake of the child."
In a post-credits scene, Alex is participating in talk therapy with Jordan Peterson.
==Cast== {{Unreferenced|section|date=December 2025}}{{cast listing| * Jeremy Boreing as Coach Rob Gibson * Daniel Considine as Alex Cruise * Jake Crain as Jake Crain * David Cone as David/Davida Cone * Blain Crain as Blain/Blair Crain * Tyler Fischer as Felix/Shelix Vanwyk * Billie Rae Brandt as Gwen Wilde * Lexie Contursi as Dharby Gibson * Rosie Seraphine Harper as Winnie Gibson * Matt Walsh as Kris Dilby/Himself * Ben Shapiro as the Ref * Candace Owens as herself * Brett Cooper as Stacey Santiago O'Brien * Michael Knowles as Drake Diamond * Andrew Klavan as himself * Spencer Klavan as The Peacemaker * Clay Travis as the Hawkettes Coach * Seth Dillon as the Cowgirls Coach * Riley Gaines as herself * Ted Cruz as himself * Jordan Peterson as himself * Chandler Juliet as Sheila * Kangmin Lee as An Ecstatic Fan * Siaka Massaquoi as Deuce Johnson * Ben Davies as Commercial Director * John Costellow as Basketball fan }}
== Production == The premise of ''Lady Ballers'' originated as a potential documentary in which men would pretend to be transgender and attempt to infiltrate women's sports, but the Daily Wire changed the concept to a fictional comedy as women's leagues do not let in men. Moreover, Shapiro notes that the male actors involved were not willing to undergo the necessary procedures to be able to participate on women's teams.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kane |first=Vivian |date=December 14, 2023 |title=The Behind-the-Scenes Journey of The Daily Wire's Trans-Panic Sports Movie Disproves Its Entire Thesis |url=https://www.themarysue.com/ben-shapiro-admits-the-daily-wires-transphobic-movie-lady-ballers-is-nonsense/ |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=The Mary Sue |language=en |archive-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125223333/https://www.themarysue.com/ben-shapiro-admits-the-daily-wires-transphobic-movie-lady-ballers-is-nonsense/ |url-status=live }}</ref> An analysis of Meta's ad library found the Daily Wire had spent $1.6 million advertising ''Lady Ballers'' on Facebook and Instagram in the previous month.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meta has earned over $1 million from ads for The Daily Wire's latest anti-trans movie |url=https://www.mediamatters.org/daily-wire/meta-has-earned-over-1-million-ads-daily-wires-latest-anti-trans-movie |first=Camden |last=Carter |date=December 20, 2023 |access-date=January 22, 2024 |publisher=Media Matters for America |language=en |archive-date=January 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122235905/https://www.mediamatters.org/daily-wire/meta-has-earned-over-1-million-ads-daily-wires-latest-anti-trans-movie |url-status=live }}</ref> The Daily Wire commentator Michael Knowles, who appears in the film as a news anchor, told the American Family Association that "left-wing reviewers" who take issue with the film's assertion that untrained men could easily dominate professional women's sports "totally missed the point of the movie, which is no one cares about women's sports."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Alford |first1=Parrish |title=Michael Knowles: Left misses the point of 'Lady Ballers' |url=https://afn.net//media/2023/12/14/michael-knowles-left-misses-the-point-of-lady-ballers/ |date=December 14, 2023 |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=American Family News |publisher=American Family Association |language=en |archive-date=January 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122235905/https://afn.net//media/2023/12/14/michael-knowles-left-misses-the-point-of-lady-ballers/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Filming === Principal photography began in June 2023. The film was shot in Nashville, Tennessee. A casting organization advertised the movie as "a sports comedy film" with the working title ''Coach Miracle''. Recruiter pitches included calls for people willing to dress in drag "as a visual gag." An extra told ''Nashville Scene'' that several peers objected after they learned the political nature of the film and the Daily Wire's involvement in it. They were then escorted out of the building where audience scenes were being filmed. The following day, props including a sign with the text "Baller Pride" and a transgender flag had been removed from the set. Casting recruiters eventually had to double the pay offered to extras to $300 a day. Belmont University canceled planned filming on its campus "because the production company has not fulfilled the requirements or provided the details that would have been necessary for us to proceed", according to a university statement.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Herner |first1=Hannah |last2=Masters |first2=Hamilton Matthew |title=Trans Advocates Protest Daily Wire Production in Nashville |url=https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/trans-advocates-protest-daily-wire-production-in-nashville/article_4a0226c6-15f8-11ee-97b4-af6bf5fe4626.html |website=Nashville Scene |date=June 28, 2023 |access-date=December 2, 2023 |archive-date=December 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202150209/https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/trans-advocates-protest-daily-wire-production-in-nashville/article_4a0226c6-15f8-11ee-97b4-af6bf5fe4626.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Distribution === The film was announced by the Daily Wire on November 7, 2023, on their official Instagram page. The film was released on December 1, 2023, on the DailyWire+ video-on-demand site.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Monteil |first1=Abby |title=Daily Wire's Wildly Unfunny Anti-Trans Movie Has a 95% User Rating on Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.them.us/story/daily-wires-unfunny-anti-trans-movie-has-a-95-user-rating-on-rotten-tomatoes |website=Them |publisher=Condé Nast |date=December 5, 2023 |access-date=March 20, 2024 |archive-date=March 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320212440/https://www.them.us/story/daily-wires-unfunny-anti-trans-movie-has-a-95-user-rating-on-rotten-tomatoes |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Reception== <!-- WP:UGC Rotten Tomatoes audience scores are not allowed. DO NOT ADD THEM --> The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 43%, with an average score of 5.7/10, based on seven reviews.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lady Ballers |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lady_ballers/reviews |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=December 12, 2023 |archive-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211230313/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lady_ballers/reviews |url-status=live }}</ref>
<!-- Negative --> John Serba of Decider.com was reminded of the film ''Juwanna Mann'', and said: "''Lady Ballers'' is funny on occasion, but only unintentionally". He concludes it "isn't offensive as much as it's just depressing" and encourages audiences to "skip it".<ref>{{cite web |date=December 1, 2023 |author1=John Serba |title='Lady Ballers' DailyWire Plus Review: Stream It Or Skip It? |url=https://decider.com/2023/12/01/lady-ballers-dailywire-plus-review-stream-it-or-skip-it/ |access-date=December 2, 2023 |archive-date=December 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202020252/https://decider.com/2023/12/01/lady-ballers-dailywire-plus-review-stream-it-or-skip-it/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Katelyn Burns of MSNBC said the film was "anti-trans propaganda", and that the film was dishonest about transgender people's ability to compete in sports.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burns |first=Katelyn |date=December 12, 2023 |title=This awful anti-trans propaganda film is an absurd fantasy of male domination |url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/lady-ballers-movie-daily-wire-trans-athletes-rcna128628 |access-date=December 11, 2023 |website=MSNBC |language=en |archive-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211230313/https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/lady-ballers-movie-daily-wire-trans-athletes-rcna128628 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mey Rude, writing for gay magazine ''Out'', described the movie as "completely unfunny". She said "It almost seems like the people who made the movie understand that if their premise was real, there would be real-life examples of groups of men like this taking over women's sports. There aren't."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rude |first=Mey |date=November 28, 2023 |title=This 'Comedy' About Trans Athletes Is Completely Unfunny |url=https://www.out.com/film/lady-ballers-transphobic-comedy-film |access-date=December 11, 2023 |website=Out |language=en |archive-date=December 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204222207/https://www.out.com/film/lady-ballers-transphobic-comedy-film |url-status=live }}</ref>
==See also== * List of basketball films
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb title}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|lady_ballers}}
{{The Daily Wire}}
Category:2020s anti-LGBTQ movement in the United States Category:2023 English-language films Category:2020s sports comedy films Category:2023 sports films Category:2023 films Category:2023 independent films Category:2023 LGBTQ-related films Category:American basketball films Category:American LGBTQ-related films Category:American sports comedy films Category:Conservative media in the United States Category:Cross-dressing in American films Category:The Daily Wire films Category:Films about women's sports Category:Films set in 2008 Category:Films set in 2023 Category:Films shot in Tennessee Category:LGBTQ-related controversies in film Category:LGBTQ-related controversies in the United States Category:LGBTQ-related sports comedy films Category:American transgender-related films Category:Transphobia in the United States Category:English-language sports comedy films