Juliana Carlos, now known as “courtside Karen” thanks to LeBron James, has apologized to the NBA star for heckling him during a recent Los Angeles Lakers game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Carlos was removed from the Atlanta game on Monday, Feb. 1, after she rose from her seat and pulled her mask down to yell at the Lakers star. The following day, she took to her Instagram page and apologized for the incident, taking full accountability for her actions.
“About last night… To say things escalated quickly at yesterday’s game is an understatement, and I want to apologize for losing my cool and removing my mask in the heat of the moment,” Carlos wrote in her post. Carlos said that she and her husband were avid sports fans and joked that “sports wouldn’t be sports without a little trash-talking.”
She added, “What should have been a quick back-and-forth between two adults got out of hand and my natural instinct to stand up for the man I love kicked in. Did I use offensive language when I could have taken the higher road? Yes. And for these things, I take full responsibility.”
Social media users flocked to Carlos’ comments section, where they repeatedly taunted the influencer about the situation, leaving comments like “stop the cap,” a term used when someone isn’t telling the truth and telling her that the athlete blocked her. “You getting the attention you desired botox barbie,” another person expressed.
“Your sugar dad is about to toss you back to the streets for f-cking up his court side seats for the Hawks 😂😂😂,” a third person wrote. “Baby girl it’s a lil too late, you went viral for almost 24 hours 😂.”
Juliana and her millionaire husband Chris Carlos had a few words with James during the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game. In a video shared by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Juliana could be seen shouting from her courtside seat with her mask pulled down, which violates NBA’s in-person game rules.
However, James expressed that Juliana being kicked out of the stadium was a bit excessive despite calling her “Karen” in a tweet later that night. “At the end of the day, I’m happy fans are back in the building,” he said of the situation. “I miss that interaction. I need that interaction; we as players need that interaction.”
He continued, “There was a back-and-forth between two grown men. We said our piece, he said his piece, I said my piece. And then when someone else jumped into it and said their piece, but I didn’t think they should’ve been kicked out.”
Neither Juliana nor anyone in her party will be banned from future games.
