A basketball event to be held at a New Jersey high school was canceled after backlash over the scheduled appearance of women in thongs and after a promotional video sparked outrage.
West Side High School in Newark, N.J. was set to host the “Nuttin’ But Azz” event on July 21 with celebrity music manager Big Fendi. With tickets for the event ranging from $50 to $500, it was billed as an “NBA Celebrity Baddies Basketball Game,” according to its invitation online.
But after a startling video promoting the event was posted on social media featuring women twerking on the court, Newark school officials pulled the plug after learning it was not the community basketball tournament they thought it was.
“It’s really the NBA ‘Nuttin’ But Azz’ Tournament,” says a man in a striped referee shirt in the video. “I want to clean it up. It’ll be really nice women. I ain’t doing no ugly Dudleys.”’
Though the video was removed from Instagram where it had been posted, it was shared on Facebook.
“No school or district official was aware of the video until it was posted on social media,” Nancy J. Deering, the school board communications director, told NJ.com.
“This was supposed to be a community basketball event sponsored by Councilman Kelly. No school or district official approved the activity depicted in the video or knew that an event at one of our schools would include such activity,” she added.
Newark Councilman Dupré Kelly reportedly helped secure the school as the site but emphasized that he did not authorize the event, ” TAPintoNewark reported.
“It is common for residents and community groups to contact their council member’s office for assistance when they are unfamiliar with a particular process or are concerned,” Kelly said. “In this situation, an inquiry was made by my office to the Newark Public Schools (NPS) on behalf of a credible community partner asking about the availability and costs. NPS confirmed the availability of West Side High School on the date specified.”
“The promotion video that was filmed was absolutely horrible and was not authorized by Newark Public Schools or the West Ward Councilman’s Office,” Kelly said. “As a councilman and as a father, I would never allow this type of content to be filmed in any of our schools, and I don’t agree or promote it in any way.”
“It is my standard practice to review the details of any event proposed by my staff or a community partner wishing for me to co-sponsor,” he added. “If I agree, I authorize a hold harmless (agreement) to be drafted, and approve the promotion and budget for the event. These steps were not taken because I would never authorize such an event.”
Big Fendi issued an apology on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
“We were doing an event and then, you know, things went a little left, and out of control, and I take full responsibility for that, cause you guys had no knowledge of what these girls would be wearing in this celebrity game,” the celebrity music manager credited with discovering Nicki Minaj, said in the video.
“I want to apologize to the parents, to the students, for affecting anyone, and anybody else that was involved, and my deepest apologies,” Big Fendi added. “Hopefully this helps.”
The president of the NAACP’s Newark Branch blasted the organizer who “should be banned” and said the community does not need “that type of exposure.”
“It should not have gotten to the point where they felt comfortable being able to sell tickets or do a promotion,” Deborah Smith Gregory told TAPintoNewark.
“That is not what we need in our community. We do not need that type of exposure to young people in our schools. We do not need that type of exposure to adults,” she said.
“The organizer should be banned from getting any kind of support for any future activities,” Smith Gregory added. “That’s how serious it should be, because that’s not thinking about the betterment of our community. It’s just thinking about ‘what can I do to make money.’”
