A New Jersey basketball tournament was canceled after the event, which was to be held at a high school, posted a controversial promotional video online that was seen by school administrators.
The basketball tournament was alleged to be a celebrity ordeal and was reportedly described as a community basketball tournament until a promo video for the event hit Facebook.
The preview image for the video had the title “NBA Baddies Celebrity Basketball Tournament,” followed by “Nuttin Butt Azz,” and a July 2024 event date.
The video showed organizer Big Fendi dressed as a referee in the high school gymnasium. That is followed by a series of women in thongs and other scantily clad outfits dancing and jumping up and down.
The video also revealed that a $10,000 prize would be awarded to the best four teams in the tournament.
An event page still posted to Eventbrite showed the tournament was to be played at West Side High School in Newark, New Jersey. Ticket prices ranged from $50 to $500 for those who preferred floor seats. Big Fendi also appeared to be holding other events such as a yacht party in New York and a pool party in New Jersey.
‘This was supposed to be a community basketball event.’
Big Fendi later apologized to the city, the high school principal, and even to Newark Councilman Dupré Kelly, who allegedly helped him secure the venue.
“We were doing an event and then, you know, things went a little left, and out of control, and I take full responsibility for that, cause you guys had no knowledge of what these girls would be wearing in this celebrity game,” the organizer said in an Instagram video.
“I want to apologize to the parents, to the students, for affecting anyone, and anybody else that was involved, and my deepest apologies,” he added.
Big Fendi is a music manager and is widely credited for discovering rapper Nicki Minaj. Councilman Kelly is himself a former rapper, performing in the successful group Lords of the Underground throughout 1990s and 2000s.
“The promotional video that was filmed was absolutely horrible and was not authorized by Newark Public Schools or the West Ward Councilman’s Office,” the councilman reportedly said.
Kelly added that he would “never allow this type of content to be filmed” in any of the district’s schools.
According to NJ.com, school officials said they thought the tournament was simply for community members and knew nothing about the not-safe-for-work promotional video.
Newark Public Schools spokeswoman Nancy Deering said the video of the event was not approved by the school district and expressed confusion about the tournament’s actual content.
“No school or district official was aware of the video until it was posted on social media,” Deering reportedly said. “This was supposed to be a community basketball event sponsored by Councilman Kelly. No school or district official approved the activity depicted in the video or knew that an event at one of our schools would include such activity.”
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Fearless, Basketball, New jersey, High school, Sports