The Los Angeles Times added an apology to Ben Bolch's controversial column on the LSU women's basketball team Monday, and the columnist himself released a lengthy apology to Kim Mulkey's squad later in the day.
Bloch drew criticism for his use of "dirty debutantes" to describe the LSU team in a column that portrayed the Tigers as the villains in the Sweet Sixteen battle against UCLA. Mulkey said she believed the words he used were sexist.
The LA Times later edited the column, removing some of the more controversial words, and then added an apology.
"The original version of this commentary did not meet Times editorial standards. It has been edited to remove language that was inappropriate and offensive. We apologize to the LSU basketball program and to our readers," the LA Times' editor's note said.
On Monday, Bloch released a more thorough apology for his column not long before LSU tipped off against Iowa in the Elite Eight in Albany, New York. He posted the message to X, describing it as a "long overdue apology."
A LONG OVERDUE APOLOGY: pic.twitter.com/lgZkCt21Ft
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) April 1, 2024
"It has taken me two days to write this apology because I wanted to be as thoughtful as possible in my response to the situation I have created," Bloch said. "These are words I have not been asked to write by anyone at my paper, but they need 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 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."
LSU and Iowa were set to tip off at 6:15 p.m. on Monday night for a spot in the Final Four.
