LSU had extra motivation in its 78-69 win over UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen on Saturday. Ahead of the game, the Los Angeles Times published a story, framing the Tigers as “villains.” The publication even went so far to call LSU’s players “dirty debutantes,” while referring to the Bruins as “milk and cookies.”
The story received significant criticism for its alleged “sexist” terminology and slanted angle. LSU head coach Kim Mulkey spearheaded the counterattack on the Times.
“It was good versus evil in that game today. Evil?” Mulkey said. “He called us dirty debutantes. Take your phone out right now and google dirty debutantes and tell me what it says. Dirty debutantes? Are you kidding me? I’m not gonna let you talk about 18-21 year old kids in that tone.
“It was even sexist for this reporter to say UCLA was milk and cookies. You women sit there and keep your mouth shut if you want. I’m in the last third of my career, but I’m not gonna let sexism continue. If you don’t think that’s sexism then you’re in denial. How dare people attack kids like that.”
Shannon Sharpe calls out the Los Angeles Times
Mulkey wasn’t the only one with a strong opinion on the controversial article. On Monday, ESPN’s Shannon Sharpe and Stephen A. Smith weighed in on the hot topic.
“I’m not the biggest fan of Kim Mulkey, but she’s absolutely right in this situation,” Sharpe said. “I’m from the South, so I understand what a debutante ball is. It’s a young lady supposed to be a women going into adulthood.
“So they get all dressed up and they put on their nice fancy gowns, and off they go. And you say dirty debutante? And then you say the others are milk and cookies? Really?”
Stephen A. Smith demands more from the publication
The LA Times received so much backlash for the terms used in the article, it retracted the phrase “dirty debutantes” from the story. Nonetheless, Smith believes the publications need to go a step further.
“Whoever had the power to say, ‘It did not meet the Times editorial standards,’ should have went a step further and apologized and said, ‘On behalf of this paper, that is not our standard. That was never supposed to be in print. It is something that we will address. We apologize and we will make sure it does not happen again.’ Very, very simple. They didn’t go that far,” Smith said.
“Kim Mulkey was absolutely right and she was right to point it out. She was right to point out what it was in terms of the sexism that was was displayed and she was also right to challenge the media in attendance to pull out their phones and look up debutante.”
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