The University of South Carolina on Sunday apologized for its arena DJ playing a song by the late father of a Louisiana State University player, moments after a big women’s basketball victory by the Gamecocks over the Tigers.
No. 2 South Carolina beat then-No. 5 LSU in a fiercely contested battle Friday night in Columbia, pitting two dominant programs which have won the past three NCAA championships against each other.
And in the post-horn celebration, the arena DJ, who goes by the stage name DJ T.O., played “Cut Friends” by the late rapper Camoflauge, whose real name was Jason Akeil Johnson.
The rapper’s daughter is star LSU guard Flau’Jae Johnson and she was not pleased by the song choice, which she interpreted as a crass taunt. Johnson, who also raps, was born 5 1/2 months after her father was slain in 2003.
“I’ll take my L on the chin, but this just nasty behavior. Nun funny bout that,” she wrote on X Saturday.
USC agreed with Johnson and called the DJ’s song selection “inappropriate” and “disrespectful.”
“Her actions were understandably upsetting to Flau’Jae Johnson and her family and disrespectful to the LSU program and fans,” USC 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.”
DJ T.O. apologized for her song choice, but insisted she had no ill intent and has been a fan of that song for years. The DJ said she’s a native of coastal South Carolina and grew up listening to Camouflage, who was based out of Savannah, Georgia.
“I apologize for playing Cut Friends Instrumental at the game yesterday,” she said in a statement on Saturday. “It is never my intent to disrespect anyone or offend anyone when my job is to have fun and make sure other people have a good time. I’m from the Lowcountry/C-Port area so I’ve been playing it for years, even at other games, but I shouldn’t have played it at yesterday’s game. ”
DJ T.O. was suspended for the Gamecocks’ next home game, on Sunday against Auburn, the school said. South Carolina’s next home game is Feb. 13 against Florida.
The school said it will meet with the DJ “to provide further education on our expectations of her in the future.”
