WWE Apologizes for Racial Slurs Used on MizTV

Although they are virtually unknown outside of the United States, LaVar Ball and his son Lonzo are the characters of the moment for NBA fans. That's why WWE wanted to take advantage of their presence in Los Angeles to receive coverage from the main sports media. Unfortunately, the strategy had an unexpected result.

LaVar Ball, a retired NFL player, became famous a few months ago after claiming that his son was better than the main basketball figures, including LeBron James. He even assured that he, a football player, could have beaten Michael Jordan in his youth. His words gained even more relevance when Lonzo Ball ended up in the Los Angeles Lakers as the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

The idea of WWE was for them to be the ones to bring Lonzo Ball to the Staples Center for the first time as part of the Lakers. For this reason, the Ball family was invited to MizTV, including the youngest son, LaMelo, who became the reason for disagreement.

When his father and The Miz were about to come to blows, LaMelo used an inappropriate word not just once, but twice on the microphone.

Beat that N×××ahs ass???? pic.twitter.com/zK237rrKng

- Joe Cronin (@JoeCroninJCS) June 27, 2017

Kick that black guy's ass!

Perhaps for Spanish speakers, this situation may be unfamiliar, since there are no terms in our language that have such an impact. However, in English, the words "nigga" or "nigger," which means "black," are a completely prohibited racial insult, and although the first is often part of the usual slang of a large part of the African-American population, its open pronunciation is a taboo subject, as it reminds of the derogatory treatment they received during slavery.

According to the Wrestling Observer, Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn were furious as soon as they heard these words, so much so that WWE immediately issued an apology:

The inappropriate use of language by a guest on the MizTV segment was not planned and does not reflect the values of WWE.

Unfortunately, this fact caused the attention to divert from the promoted appearance of the Balls to the language used by LaMelo, which was the focus of coverage by media outlets such as the Los Angeles Times.