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L.A. Times writer issues apology for 'dirty debutantes' column about LSU women's basketball

By Jeff NowakApr 02, 2024

Jeff Nowak

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It took three days, but the L.A. Times writer behind a much-derided commentary of the LSU women's team has issued an apology.

Ben Bloch, who has been with the paper since 1999 and also serves as the team's UCLA beat writer, issued the "long overdue" apology Monday afternoon, shortly before the Tigers faced off in the Elite Eight in a much-anticipated rematch with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

"It has taken me two days to write this apology because I wanted to be as thoughtful as possible in my respond to the situation I have created," Bloch wrote. "These are words I have not been asked to write by anyone at my paper, but they needed to be expressed so that I can own up to my mistake.

"Words matter. As a journalist, no one should know this more than me. Yet I have failed miserably in my choice of words. In my column previewing the LSU-UCLA women's basketball game, I tried to be clever in my phrasing about one team's attitude, using alliteration while not understanding the deeply offensive connotation or associations. I also used metaphors that were not appropriate. Our society has had to deal with so many layers of misogyny, racism and negativity that I can now see why the words I used were wrong. It was not my intent to be hurtful, but I now understand that I terribly missed the mark.

"I sincerely apologize to the LSU and UCLA basketball teams and to our readers. UCLA, a school I have covered for nearly a decade, champions diversity and is known as a leader in inclusivity. However, I have not upheld that standard in what I wrote and I will do much better. I am deeply sorry."

The column in question was posted on Friday, prior to LSU's victory over the Bruins in the Sweet 16. The original version used the term "dirty debutantes" to describe the Tigers, which has since been scrubbed along with other references to the teams that Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey and many others quickly and accurately slammed as sexist and inappropriate. The column still exists on the L.A. Times' website with that language scrubbed, but still classifies LSU as the villain of college basketball.

The column includes an editor's note that also apologizes to the LSU program.

LSU fell to Iowa 94-87 in Monday's game, with Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark going off for 41 points in a Herculean effort.

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