Louisiana State University basketball player and rapper Flau’jae Johnson has come under fire after referencing the Sept. 11, 2001, attack in a freestyle video shared on Twitter. Johnson has now taken down the video from the original Twitter post.
The 19-year-old LSU guard gained stardom after her team won the NCAA women’s basketball championship, but her most recent move has caused an uproar with Conservatives.
On May 9, Johnson dropped a freestyle video to Latto’s new single, “Put It On Da Floor,” in which she said, “In this 911 blowing smoke just like them towers.”
The song was meant as a shout-out for her new teammate, Tigers player Hailey Van Lith. But some felt she was mocking the tragic event that claimed almost 3,000 lives by comparing it to a Porsche 911 car.
During the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City, two airplanes flew into the Twin Towers. One Conservative in particular, David Hookstead, was offended by the short 9/11 reference. He shared a series of tweets to explain how he felt about Johnson’s rap, which he called “disgusting” and “trash.”
“LSU basketball player Flau’jae Johnson mocks 9/11 victims in new rap song. I wonder how the families of those who died on 9/11 and the heroes who died in the wars that followed feel about this trash,” he wrote in the first. “My friends killed people for years because of 9/11. They changed forever.”
In another tweet, Hookstead tagged the official Twitter account of the LSU Women’s basketball team and accused Johnson of mocking those who perished on that tragic day.
“Take a bow @LSUwbkb. A player on your team mocked those who died on 9/11 by comparing it to a Porsche,” he continued. “Disgusting. I know people who still struggle to sleep at night because of what they did in war after 9/11. She thinks it’s a joke.”
Twitter users were less offended by Johnson’s lyrics and felt Hookstead was simply overreacting.
“I hope you stretched properly and was fully hydrated before you did all that reaching,” replied one user.
“You’re reaching with this one bud.”
“Since when is referencing something making a mockery,” asked another. “Instead of bashing what she said why don’t u reach out to educate her on the significance of 9/11 especially since she wasn’t even born when it occurred.”
“I speak for everyone when i say we dgaf s—t was hard,” wrote another. “She needa re release that bih,” added one user.
LSU apologized for Johnson’s rap video, sharing that representatives with the institution have spoken to the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year and expressed that she meant no offense.
“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,” read a statement shared with FOX News. “We will learn and grow from this experience together.”
After her team won the NCAA championship, Johnson gained notoriety for her skills on and off the court. She started rapping at a young age and even landed a spot on season three of Jermaine Dupri’s music competition series, “The Rap Game,” but did not make it to the end.
The Savannah, Georgia-born artist appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and made it all the way to the quarter finals before she was eliminated. She returned later to appear as an all-star.
In 2020, Johnson signed a distribution deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label. She since has collaborated with the likes of DJ Khaled, fellow Louisiana native Boosie Badazz and others.
