The woman who is now known as “Courtside Karen” has issued an apology after she got into a back-and-forth yelling match with LeBron James during an NBA game on Monday night (Feb. 1).
On Tuesday (Feb. 2), Juliana Carlos took to Instagram to issue an apology for her behavior after she was ejected from the basketball game. “About last night… To say things escalated quickly at yesterday’s game is an understatement and I want to apologize for losing my cool and removing my mask in the heat of the moment. My husband is a huge sports fan and we’re passionate people and let’s be real: sports wouldn’t be sports without a little trash-talking,” she wrote.
Carlos continued, “What should have been a quick back-and-forth between two adults got out of hand and my natural instinct to stand up for the man I love kicked in. Did I get defensive when that happened? Yes. Did I use offensive language when I could have taken the higher road? Yes. And for those things, I take full responsibility.”
On Monday, Carlos and her husband were ejected from the State Farm Arena as the Los Angeles Lakers were playing the Atlanta Hawks. The 25-year-old woman then went Live on social media to share her side of the story. “So, I’m minding my own business… and Chris has been a Hawks fan forever,” she said on IG Live. “He has this issue with LeBron. I don’t have an issue with LeBron. I don’t give a fuck about LeBron.”
She then said that the verbal exchange originally started between the NBA superstar and her husband, but she jumped in. “I go, ‘Don’t fucking talk to my husband!’ And he looks at me and he goes, ‘Sit the fuck down, bitch.’ And I go, ‘Don’t fucking call me a bitch. You sit the fuck down!’” she said.
James later laughed off the incident during his post-game interview. He said that he didn’t feel it was “warranted” to kick the couple out after the altercation, but said the refs “had to do what they had to do.”
Check out Carlos’ full apology below.
