Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Mark Wakefield

College basketball star apologises after using 9/11 reference in song

LSU star Flau'jae Johnson has apologised after she made a reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in a music video shared on social media.

The 19-year-old musician is also a freshman at LSU and a guard for their Women’s Basketball team. Johnson recently helped LSU win the national title, averaging 11 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season.

One of Johnson’s most recent songs was a remix of Latto's "Put It On Da Floor”, which she posted, and later deleted, on Twitter. In the song, she used the lyric: "In this 911, blowing smoke just like them towers,” whilst talking about a Porsche 911 sports car.

After Johnson posted the video, she began to receive plenty of criticism with the reference to the 9/11 terrorist attack. As a result, she deleted the video and later took to Instagram to issue an apology.

On Instagram, Johnson told her 1.3 million followers: "Y’all probably heard the lyrics in the song that I made and I just wanted to come on here and let y’all know by no means would I ever intentionally try to disrespect or offend anyone.

"My whole goal in music is to push positivity and spread love. So, in no way, shape or form would I intentionally try to disrespect or offend anyone. I’m definitely going to learn from this moving forward and I just thank y’all for y’all continued support."

LSU have also issued a statement saying that they have spoken to the teenager about the video and insisting Johnson was remorseful about any hurt caused by the video.

Flau'jae Johnson has apologised for a music video which referenced the 9/11 terrorist attacks (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

A statement to Fox News read: "We spoke with Flau’jae this evening, and while she never intended to offend or upset anyone with her lyrics, she expressed sincere remorse for any possibility of a misunderstanding and immediately took the video down.

“We will learn and grow from this experience together.”

Johnson has been involved with music since she was in middle school, and recently signed a distribution deal with Jay Z's Roc Nation label in 2020. Johnson also appeared on America’s Got Talent back in 2018 when she was 14 years old, and got a golden buzzer from the judges for her performance.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.