A celebrity basketball tournament will no longer be held at a New Jersey high school after a promotional video of the event showed women in thongs and shorts twerking in the gym.
Prior to the cancellation, the basketball tournament, called "Nuttin' But Azz," was scheduled to be held at Newark's West Side High School on July 21. Big Fendi, a celebrity music manager, was set to host the event with tickets ranging from $50 to $500.
However, a promotional video for the basketball tournament shared on social media received widespread backlash. The video, called "NBA Baddies Basketball Tournament NJ," showed twerking women in a high school gym.
School officials said they weren't aware of the promotional video and they thought the event was a community basketball tournament.
“No school or district official was aware of the video until it was posted on social media,” Newark Public Schools spokeswoman Nancy Deering said in a statement. “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.”
In a video on Instagram, Big Fendi addressed the cancelation, apologizing to the city, high school, and Newark Councilman Dupré Kelly, who helped secure the high school for the event.
“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,” Big Fendi said.
“I want to apologize to the parents, to the students, for affecting anyone, and anybody else that was involved, and my deepest apologies,” he continued. “Hopefully this helps.”
According to TAPintoNewark, Kelly said someone had contacted his office about holding a “community basketball game.” Kelly said his office reached out to the school district “on behalf of a credible community partner asking about the availability and costs." The district later confirmed that the high school would be available to host the event.
“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."
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