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Editor’s note: Los Angeles Times reporter Ben Bolch apologized on Monday. Here is the link to read more.
Following scathing criticism from LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, the Los Angeles Times called a column published before Saturday’s NCAA Tournament game between LSU and UCLA “not up to the Times’ editorial standards.” Updated as.
Mulkey, who went on a rant about language she called “sexist” in her column, originally called the UCLA-UCLA game a battle of “good versus evil.” She especially disagreed with Mulkey, who she described as “dirty debutantes” for the defending NCAA champion Lady Tigers.
This phrase was removed from the column, along with references to “villain” to LSU, “milk and cookies” to UCLA, and “America’s Sweetheart” (although the headline read “America’s Sweetheart Vs. “Basketball Villains” remained). online link).
“How can people attack kids like that?” Mulkey asked reporters at Saturday’s postgame press conference. “You don’t have to like our play. You don’t have to like our trash talk. You don’t have to like any of it. We’re fine with that.
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“But as a mother, as a grandmother, as a youth leader, I cannot sit here and allow someone to say something like that.”
And on Sunday morning, Mulkey said she was informed about the update to her column “maybe an hour and a half ago” but did not expect an apology.
“Personally, no one has contacted me, and I’m not asking for it,” Mulkey said.
Additionally, UCLA coach Cori Close apologized Saturday for sharing a link to a controversial column earlier in the day.
“I made the big mistake of reposting without reading the content, and I am very sorry.” Close wrote in a post about X. “We would never want to promote anything that would tear people apart from our great game.”
Close also apologized to Mulkey and the LSU players. “I do not tolerate racist, sexist, or inflammatory comments directed at individuals in our community,” she said. “I hope that I can prove over time with my actions and choices that this was not my heart’s intention and was an isolated mistake.”
Haley Van Lith: Comments ‘racist towards teammates’
LSU guard Haley Van Lith mentioned the article after the Sweet 16 game and admitted that she and the team read the article before playing the Bruins. She defended her teammates, saying she wished the team hadn’t read it.
“There are a lot of Black women on this team, certainly a lot of people from different areas,” Van Lith said. “Unfortunately, that bias still exists, and many of the people making such comments are racist towards their teammates.”
Van Lith, who is white, pointed out the difference in treatment when she talks trash and when Angel Reese does the same. She added that her words in her article were “very sad and upsetting.”
“…I know for a fact that people look at us differently because we have a lot of black women on our team who have good attitudes and like to talk trash. and how people feel about it,” Van Lith said. “At the end of the day, I’m dancing with them because they don’t allow themselves to change. They stay true to themselves, so I root for them.”
LSU won the game 78-69 and advanced to Monday night’s Elite Eight matchup against top-seeded Iowa.
Contributed by Nancy Armor, jordan mendoza
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