South Carolina’s athletic department has issued an apology to Flau’jae Johnson, her family and LSU after the Gamecocks’ in-arena DJ played a song by the late father of the Tigers’ star guard after South Carolina’s 66-56 victory against LSU last Friday.
The university, which called the song selection ‘inappropriate,’ said it has suspended the DJ, who goes by the stage name DJ T.O., for the team’s next home game and that it will meet with her to ‘provide further education on our expectations for her in the future.’
‘Her actions were understandably upsetting to Flau’Jae Johnson and her family and disrespectful to the LSU program and fans,’ South Carolina said in a statement. ‘Conference rivalries and passionate fan bases should only serve to enhance sports, not be used to target individual players personally. We regret that it came to that in our venue after a game that saw both teams capture the level of national attention that women’s basketball has earned.’
After the No. 2 Gamecocks knocked off the No. 5 Tigers in a highly anticipated matchup between two of the country’s top women’s basketball teams, DJ T.O. played the instrumental to ‘Cut Friends,’ a song by Johnson’s father, Jason, a Savannah, Georgia-based rapper who went by the stage name ‘Camoflauge.’
Jason Johnson was shot and killed in May 2003, six months before Flau’jae Johnson was born.
Flau’Jae Johnson called out the song choice on social media on Saturday night. The post included a screenshot of an Instagram story from DJ T.O. in which she acknowledged playing the song, along with the caption ‘my bad’ with a crying laughing emoji.
‘I’ll take my L on the chin, but this just nasty behavior,’ Johnson wrote. ‘Nun funny bout that.’
Shortly after Johnson’s post, DJ T.O. apologized for playing the song, saying in a social media post that it was ‘never my intent to disrespect anyone or offend anyone.’ She added that she grew up listening to Camoflauge and has been playing the song for years.
Johnson, a second-team all-SEC selection last season, had 13 points, four rebounds and two assists in the loss.
Beyond the court, Johnson is following in her father’s footsteps by pursuing a career in music and has signed a deal with Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s entertainment company.