What Did Hope Solo Do? About The Netflix ‘Untold’ Star’s Scandals

Netflix just dropped Untold: Hope Solo vs. US Soccerand it’s raising all kinds of questions about the soccer goalie’s past.

In case you’re not familiar with Hope, the 43-year-old was a legendary goalie for US Soccer, winning two Olympic gold medals and playing for the US women’s national soccer team from 2000 to 2016.

But Hope faced a few scandals during her time in the spotlight and was dropped from the team in 2016. So, what were the incidents, and what is she up to now? Here’s the deal.

What was the scandal involving Hope Solo?

There are a few. In 2007, Hope made headlines after she was benched in the semifinals of the 2007 World Cup in favor of fellow goalkeeper Brianna Scurry. Team USA ended up losing the match to Brazil 0-4, and Hope was very candid about her feelings about it.

Per ESPN, she told a reporter that starting Brianna “was the wrong decision. And I think anyone that knows anything about the game knows that. There’s no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is, it’s not 2004 anymore.” Hope claims she was not allowed to attend the third-place game because of those comments, per her 2013 memoir.

“We have moved forward with 20 players who have stood by each other, who have battled for each other,” the team’s coach Greg Ryan announced 24 hours before the third-place game. “And when the hard times came—and the Brazil game was a hard time—they stood strong. Now it’s the 20 who have stuck together who will be ready to go out and compete against Norway.”

Hope also made headlines after she made comments about the Swedish national team, saying that they played like “a bunch of cowards” after knocking the US out of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, according to the Los Angeles Times‘ Kevin Baxter. Hope also said that “the better team did not win,” per Baxter. After that, Hope was suspended for six months and her contract was terminated, per Bleacher Report.

But in UntoldHope suggests the latter suspension happened because she wanted equal pay between male and female American soccer stars. (In 2016, Hope and four other players—Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, and Rebecca Sauerbrunn—filed an equal employment opportunity complaint for workplace discrimination, noting that the women’s soccer team was not paid or treated nearly as well as the men’s team, despite having a much better record.)

“In 2015, I knew that I found something out that I shouldn’t have found out,” she said in her documentary. “But at that moment, I had no idea that perhaps I had made an enemy. A year later, I was fired.”

At the time, US Soccer claimed they terminated her contract for “conduct that is counter to the organization’s principles,” a result of her comments on Sweden.

“Taking into consideration the past incidents involving Hope, as well as the private conversations we’ve had requiring her to conduct herself in a manner befitting a US national team member, US Soccer determined this is the appropriate disciplinary action,” US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said in a statement at the time, per the New York Times.

What was Hope Solo accused of?

In 2014, she was arrested and charged with two counts of domestic violence, according to news reports. Police claimed she was combative when she was arrested. “You’re such ab*tch. “You’re scared of me because you know that if the handcuffs were off, I’d kick your ass,” she reportedly said at the time, according to her arrest report. The charges were dismissed in 2018.

In 2022, Hope was arrested in North Carolina and charged with misdemeanor child abuse, resisting arrest, and impaired driving, per CNN. She was arrested in a parking lot while she was in her car with her two children. She pled guilty to driving while impaired and the other two charges were dismissed, according to ESPN. She received a suspended sentence of 24 months and an active sentence of 30 days. (She was given credit for time spent at an in-patient rehabilitation facility.) She was also ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and a $600 fee for the cost of the lab tests, per ESPN.

In a statement released after her guilty plea, Hope said she made “a huge mistake.”

“Easily the worst mistake of my life,” she said. “I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become. The upside of making a mistake this big is that hard lessons are learned quickly. Learning these lessons has been difficult, and at times, very painful.”

Did Hope Solo ever apologize?

Yes, Hope apologized after her domestic violence arrest. “I would like to apologize to my fans, teammates, coaches, marketing partners and the entire US Soccer and Seattle Reign FC communities for my involvement in a highly unfortunate incident this past weekend,” she said on Facebook in 2014.

She further stated: “Due to pending legal issues, I cannot comment further at this time. However, I am confident in the legal process and believe my name will be cleared.”

She later apologized to Sweden’s captain after calling her team “cowards,” per ESPN. In 2007, she released a statement about her comments about Brianna, saying that she was “truly sorry.”

Where is Hope Solo now?

Hope was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2023, an honor she deferred after her 2022 arrest.

In 2022, Hope and her family moved from Washington to a farm in North Carolina, she shared during a podcast episode that year, per Parade. In the documentary, she added that she’s been living in Asheville, North Carolina, to be spiritually closer to her father, who lived in the woods during part of her childhood.

“My father loved the peace and quiet of his tent in the woods,” she said. “And after everything that happened, I knew that I needed a fresh start. And out here, I feel closer to him than ever… and strong.”

Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.