Lakers support Young, Clarkson in alleged sexual harassment matter
One day after beginning an investigation into a claim that two of their players sexually harassed two women this weekend, the Los Angeles Lakers issued a statement Tuesday saying there are “different interpretations” of what happened in the incident that took place on Sunday night.
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The two women — a mother and a daughter — claim that a Jeep full of young men pulled up alongside them on Sunday and began to make “vulgar, sexual gestures” and comments to them. The younger woman, Alexis Jones — author of the book “I Am That Girl” and founder of ProtectHer, a nonprofit program aimed at working with college and professional athletes to curb sexual assault and domestic violence by reframing traditional concepts of masculinity — says she responded by taking out her phone and beginning to record the incident, which she says reduced her 68-year-old mother to tears.
She posted an image from that recording on Instagram on Sunday night:
“I pray these pics go viral because THIS is the problem with little boys,” Jones wrote in the caption of her Instagram post. “Five minutes ago, at the intersection of Melrose and La [Brea] here in LA, a jeep of four boys pulled up at a red light and started yelling and making the most disgustingly vulgar gestures at my mom and me. I rarely ‘rant’ about things but this is the f%+#ing problem and the reason I’ve now dedicated my life to educating young men about respect, not just for women but for everyone. I’m angry. I’m insulted. I’m hurt. They were laughing hysterically until they realized I was filming them and immediately they panicked like the cowards they are.
“Thank you to all the real men out there who would never treat a mother and daughter that way… Speaking of, I’d love for this to make it back to their mothers!!! Help me find who these guys are!!! Let’s see the power of social media and hold them accountable. I’d LOVE to have a candid conversation with them about sexual harassment not simply to shame them, but to understand their mentality so we can better educate young men to be respectful in the future.”
Jones’ followers quickly identified the man on the left side of the image as the 23-year-old Clarkson, and the one on the right as the 30-year-old Young.
Here’s the statement from Lakers vice president of public relations John Black:
Lakers sent out the following statement on Jordan Clarkson and Nick Young incident with Alexis Jones pic.twitter.com/FX4vGl3Qyl
— Ryan Ward (@Lakers_Examiner) March 22, 2016
We’ve looked into the situation and spoken to Alexis Jones as well as to Nick Young and Jordan Clarkson. Based on these conversations, our conclusion is that there are different interpretations of what happened. We support Nick and Jordan and believe what they told us about the incidents and their actions. We also are supportive of Alexis and her feelings about what happened, about women’s rights, and of the fine work Alexis is doing with her organization. I had several conversations with Alexis and her publicist, and tried to arrange a meeting between her, Nick and Jordan. Unfortunately, Alexis’s schedule didn’t allow for this to happen yesterday. We will also continue to stay in touch with her about the possibility of addressing our team about the important issues with which she’s involved.
Young seemed to respond to Jones’ claims in a since-deleted tweet on Monday evening:
Jones also issued a statement Tuesday in which she said “that if she had known the men in the car next to her were athletes she would not have shared the photo to social media,” according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register:
“I wanted whoever was in that photo to know the effects of actions like this on a woman when she experiences this type of verbal assault,” Jones wrote. “And I promise you that if I wanted to be famous for something, this is certainly not what I would choose to be known for.”
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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