A New Jersey school board has canceled the “Nuttin Butt Azz” basketball tournament at a local high school after a promotional video emerged showing women in thongs twerking.
The video was created to advertise the event scheduled at West Side High School in Newark, New Jersey, according to the New York Post.
In the promo video, organizers noted that there was a cash prize for the winner of the tournament. “We’re giving out $10,000 to the best team out of four teams,” the video said.
Big Fendi, the music manager who discovered rapper and singer Nicki Minaj, sponsored the event.
However, the sexualized performance on the video shocked the local school board, which quickly moved to stop the event from being held in the West Side High gym.
“I am appalled that a video of that sort was associated with that school or any of our schools,” said board member Daniel Gonzalez during a Tuesday board meeting.
Board Co-Vice President Allison James-Frison agreed and said she was “disgusted.”
Board member Crystal Williams even called for an investigation, saying, “I would like to know who signed in, who opened those doors, and how many minors were on the site.”
Superintendent Roger León took pains to note that the event was never a sanctioned high school event and that Fendi had only arranged to use the gym for his tournament. “Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken,” León insisted.
Fendi had also advertised the tournament, scheduled for July 21, as the “NBA Baddies Basketball Tournament NJ.”
The school board acted after many parents expressed their outrage over the video promo when it appeared on social media.
Fendi ultimately took to his Instagram account to apologize to the “whole city of Newark.”
“Things went a little left and out of control,” Fendi said in the Instagram video. “I take full responsibility for that ‘cause you guys had no knowledge of what these girls would be wearing.”
