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Olympic athlete says she can't pay rent, Reddit co-founder and US rapper step up to help
When Olympic athlete Veronica Fraley said she couldn't afford rent, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian came to the rescue.
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American track and field athlete Veronica Fraley has more pressing concerns ahead of her Paris Olympics 2024 appearance - she has no money to pay her rent.
In a post shared on X yesterday, the 24-year-old discus player said she would be competing in the Olympics Friday but had no money for rent. “I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent,” she wrote. “My school only sent about 75% of my rent while they pay football players (who haven’t won anything) enough to buy new cars and houses.” Fraley is an athlete at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, according to Forbes.
Shortly after she posted about her predicament on social media, rapper Flavor Flav and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian offered to help her.
“I gotchu. DM me and I’ll send payment TODAY so you don’t have to worry bout it TOMORROW,” responded Flavor Flav, whose real name is William Drayton Jr.
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian soon followed up with a promise to split the cost with the rapper. “C'mon now! I'll split it with Flavor Flav,” wrote Ohanian, a vocal supporter of women athletes and the husband of tennis champion Serena Williams.
The Reddit co-founder later shared a screenshot of the transaction confirming Fraley was paid $7,760.
Vernoica Fraley also posted an update saying she was not upset with Vanderbilt but with “the rules that bar me from making the amount I’m WORTH as a collegiate athlete such as NIL which favors popularity over performance.”
NIL" is short for “name, image and likeness.” It is a term used primarily in the context of college athletics, referring to the rights of athletes to profit from their personal brand. This includes earning money from endorsements, social media, and other ventures related to their name, image, or likeness.
