The Los Angeles Lakers have opened an investigation into sexual harassment allegations made against guards Nick Young and Jordan Clarkson.
The allegations come from an Instagram post by Alexis Jones claiming that she and her mother were harassed by a group of four males in a vehicle. “Five minutes ago, at the intersection of Melrose and La Bre 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,” the post read. Jones also said that the harassment continued until the men realized she was recording the incident and immediately stopped.
“[My mother] was super rattled. That’s the truth. It scared her,” Jones told ESPN.com. “We were in a small car, and they were in a big Jeep, and it was a bunch of big dudes. They’re leaning out of the car and making vulgar, sexual gestures. My mom was really shocked. That immediately turned into sobbing.”
Shortly after she posted the photos, several commenters identified the men in the photo as Young and Clarkson. Jones contacted the Lakers, and she said she received a call from team spokesman John Black about 8:30 a.m. Monday apologizing on behalf of the organization.
After looking into the incident further, Black released a statement saying, “”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.”
He also went on to say that attempts to meet with Jones and her mother have been and are still being made. “”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.”
Clarkson maintains that the incident was simply a “miscommunication”. “The situation, like we said, was just a miscommunication between both sides,” Clarkson told ESPN. “We don’t want to go into further detail about who’s right and who’s wrong in that situation. But at the end of the day, it was a miscommunication.”
Young took to Twitter to address the allegations. “Aye if you want some attention take a pic of me and say anything next to it and post … The world we live in,” he wrote in the since-deleted tweet. After Tuesday’s game, the ball player also said that the situation has taught him a lot about social media. “”We live in a world where social media plays a big part in what you do so you’ve just got to be careful about your surroundings and where you’re at.”
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)