Fact Check: Did Stephen Curry’s mother Sonya get ‘humiliated’ by Ferrari salespeople?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A viral tale claiming Sonya Curry—the mother of NBA golden boy Stephen Curry—was "humiliated" by Ferrari salespeople has been making the rounds on social media.
The story, which quickly spread across platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, alleged that Sonya tried to surprise her superstar son with a Ferrari Roma—but instead was dismissed, ignored, and ultimately insulted by snooty salesmen who supposedly told her to quit making up celebrity ties.
“We’d appreciate if you didn’t invent celebrity connections,” one employee reportedly said, while another suggested she look at the used section.
Viral post claims Stephen Curry's mother was 'humiliated', paints him as picture-perfect hero
According to the now-viral account, Sonya Curry was so shaken by the experience that she left in silence.
But the Golden State Warriors legend apparently launched an undercover investigation, sending in a group of mystery shoppers of all races and backgrounds to sniff out patterns of discrimination. When a Black neurosurgeon was allegedly steered away from the Roma, it was the final straw.
Stephen didn’t sue. He didn’t rant on Instagram. Instead, he allegedly created a groundbreaking initiative called Respect in Every Space, complete with secret shopper protocols, and public accountability dashboards. He even took the plan to the same dealership that snubbed his mother.
When they allegedly panicked and begged for silence, Stephen told them to relax. “I’m not interested in boycotts or headlines,” he was quoted as saying. “I’m interested in changing how people are treated. Not just here—but everywhere.”
The story ended on an emotional note. Stephen brings his mother back to the same Ferrari dealership, where she’s greeted with flowers and a new management team, then leads a training seminar on dignity. Stephen subsequently partners with Ferrari and his 'Eat. Learn. Play.' foundation to fund youth design programs for underserved communities.
At a press conference, he supposedly declares: “This started with disrespect. But we turned it into opportunity. Not just for my family, but for thousands of others who deserve to walk into any space and be treated with dignity.”
Fans gushed over the NBA legend in the comments section.
"What a guy! Raised well! I respect and admire him on and off the court and his mother all around!!" one wrote.
"What an amazing example of turning a negative experience into a positive opportunity!" another added.
"Bravo! Saludo to the Humility and Dignity Personified Mother and Son Tandem devoid of Attitude Issues. Worth Emulating!" someone else chimed in
Fact Check: False
Once the story started picking up steam—garnering over 120,000 reactions, 8,600 comments, and 32,000 reshares on Facebook alone—Snopes stepped in to pump the brakes.
The fact-checking site declared they found no evidence whatsoever to back the claims.
Multiple searches on Google and Google News came up bone-dry. There were no media reports, no dealership statements, nor any cryptic hints from Stephen.
Instead, there were red flags everywhere. For starters, the viral Facebook post misspelled Sonya Curry’s first name as "Sonia," and a disclaimer under the LinkedIn version eventually admitted that “some of this may be fictional".
"Disclaimer: Some of this may be fictional according to some messages received AFTER this was posted. At the time of posting on 27 April 2025, my understanding was that this was true," it stated.
The claims were traced back to a website called Information Technology Business (IBT), which appeared to be based in the Czech Republic and whose lone “reporter", Natalie Bezdekova, seemed to be cranking out every article on the site.
Snopes ran the post through an AI detector and found that the article was very likely not written by a human. Furthermore, there is no such campaign as Respect in Every Space listed on Stephen's website or anywhere else.
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