Ellie the Elephant: the viral mascot twerking her way into New York lore

WWhen the New York Liberty made their pre-game entrance under the Barclays Center last month ahead of the opening game of their WNBA semifinal against the Las Vegas Aces, there was more spirit and swagger on display than at any New York Fashion Week event . Star point guard Sabrina Ionescu gave low-key luxury in a sage turtleneck and camel-colored blazer. Two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player Breanna Stewart was reminiscent of Charli xcx with her black sunglasses and luscious mane that looked like it came out of a New York or Nowhere baseball hat. But none of them mastered the makeshift catwalk quite like the six-foot-tall elephant with long eyelashes, who rocked a zebra-print coat and catered to and vamped her adoring fans with provocative hip-pops and the cheerful swings of an umbrella hanging from her wrist dangled.

There are mascots and then there are mascots: those one-off unicorns that permeate the spirit of the times in unpredictable ways. Ellie the Elephant is not a brightly colored blob who stumbles across the field at half-time. She’s a dancing phenomenon – splits and worms and handstands, oh my! – and also a physical comedy genius. Her high-octane energy is synonymous with the rise of a Liberty team that has become the obsession of countless women in the city as they run to the WNBA Finals, where they stand on the cusp of becoming the first New York basketball franchise to wins a championship in over 50 years.

“Ellie is iconic,” says Claire Abelson, 26, a teacher and Liberty diehard. “She exemplifies Brooklyn and Black excellence.” Martha Nadell, a fifty-something English professor, was never a big fan of basketball, but now has season tickets. She gets a kick out of watching Ellie excite the crowd with her not-so-dirty dancing, while her ever-present escorts stand by to guard the superstar’s handbag of the day. (Ellie has an extensive collection.) “How can you not love a twerking elephant?” Nadell said.

When she doesn’t get it namechecked by Cardi B or going to Childish Gambino showsthe provocative pachyderm can be seen performing with Lil’ Kim, Destroying Usher with his signature dance moves, or undergo a facial treatment with LED light therapy (with a deft advertorial nod to brand partner Glowbar) for her more than 300,000 social media followers. While Ellie often wears a black and seafoam green Liberty uniform (uniform number: 00), her outfit also included silver miniskirts, door knocker earrings and a glitzy gold Beyoncé wizard outfit (it was ‘Elliyonce’ day after all) topped off with a seemingly bottomless rotation of wigs. Never missing are the Statue of Liberty-inspired tiara, the long tail and the 220 cm long braid that she twists for an alternately fierce and coquettish effect. Not since Miss Piggy has a vague creation achieved this level of modern femininity.

Ellie, who is four years old, owes a lot to Shana Stephenson, Liberty’s Chief Brand Officer. Working with team CEO Keia Clarke, Stephenson conceptualized the mascot as the team moved from Madison Square Garden across the East River to the $1 billion Barclays Center and Maddythe golden retriever mascot named after the previous home arena had to be put down. So Stephenson enlisted a slew of artists to propose sketches for a suburban mascot that was an elephant, an homage to PT Barnum’s great elephant parade across the Brooklyn Bridge in 1884. Criscia Long, the Liberty’s senior entertainment director who is helping in coordinating Ellie’s game-day appearances rounded out the all-black creative team behind what would soon become the most talked-about mascot in professional sports.

It was essential that Ellie embodied Brooklyn and, since she represented a WNBA team, was an ur-woman (fur woman?). “We really wanted Ellie to be female,” said Stephenson, who was part of a group of Liberty executives who took to social media and contacted casting directors to hold auditions, then met with a range of local artists who shared their interpretations of shared the movie. what Ellie could be. “We didn’t really share that much information about Ellie, we really wanted them as creatives, as entertainers, as artists, to help us define what a New York Liberty mascot could represent,” she added. “We wanted someone who could dance and entertain and if he was athletic that would be great, but that wasn’t necessary.”

That Ellie didn’t feel like a ripoff of other mascots was key. “Some mascots can be silly, goofy or a little clumsy,” Stephenson said. “Ellie is sassy. Ellie is friendly. Ellie is entertaining. She is full of character, versatile and stylish. I would describe Ellie as a fashionista, an athlete and a dancer. She is That girl.”

However, who that girl with the handbag is remains a well-kept secret. Team officials won’t reveal Ellie’s true identity – and insist the players don’t know either. They will say that Ellie is always played by the same person. The mysterious artist is a true artist and collaborates in all dimensions of her personality and tricks. “Ellie definitely has an influence on how she appears,” Stephenson said. “And I love that about Ellie, because she’s not someone that we just dictate to and say, you’re going to wear this or you have to dance to this song. She is very committed to the vision.”

Part of that vision includes engaging fans of all ages. “Regardless of whether you’re a little girl or a 45-year-old woman, Ellie can connect with you,” says Stephenson. “Our players are so nice and approachable and accessible. And I think that’s really what makes our team unique. And I think something that makes Ellie special is that she has a sense of humor.

Ellie worked her magic during last month’s semi-final opener, eliciting a chorus of “I love you, Ellie!” of a group of women sitting in a private box. When Slick Rick took the field at half-time to perform his ’80s hit Mona Lisa, the flirty fashionista danced like no one’s business. When the players returned to the field for the third quarter, Ellie was far from finished electrifying the crowd. She walked from chair to chair and turned her braid star-studded crowd including Spike Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Tracy Morgan and celebrity chef Kwame Onwuachi.

“She amps up the energy,” says Dana Nathanson, a 27-year-old Brooklynite and hardcore Liberty fan. “Throughout the game she runs up and down the arena, dances to Missy Elliott, and has to change outfits eight times.” Aria McManus, a 35-year-old artist and basketball obsessive who runs Downtown Girls, a pick-up league for women and non-binary people, credits Ellie with the Liberty fever that has engulfed her cohort. “When the Liberty first came to Barclays there weren’t enough ticket sales so they covered the top seats with a black curtain,” she said. “The games are so much fun. It’s very healthy and vibrant and there are so many women and so many little girls. There’s something about watching Ellie do the splits that keeps the energy high even when they’re losing.”

That hasn’t been common for the Liberty lately. After posting two wins in addition to the title last October, New York cruised to the WNBA’s best regular season record to earn the top seed in this year’s playoffs, where they breezed past the Atlanta Dream and dethroned the two-time defending champion Aces . to book a return trip to the finals against the Minnesota Lynx, which was tipped off Thursday night in Brooklyn. It’s a national platform that Ellie will undoubtedly make her personal Met Gala – her rolled up to Game 1 wearing a custom puffer featuring Timbs and a Telfar – as the Liberty appear to become the first New York men’s or women’s basketball team to raise a banner since the NBA’s Knicks in 1973.

While no one can say for sure who Ellie is, many of her fans consider her a queer black icon. (The occasional voice-over on Ellie’s TikTok and Instagram accounts is reminiscent of Wanda Sykes.) “My friend with season tickets got close to Ellie and yelled at her, ‘Are you gay?’” said Agnes Walden, a 29-year-old artist living in Brooklyn. “And Ellie turned to her and made the rainbow symbol with her hands.”