A longtime California high school assistant coach has been let go after one of his music videos came to the attention of school officials.
Otis Newell, who coached at Simi Valley HS (CA), told CBS LA that he works on his music during the day, and coaches in the afternoon and his wife is a teacher in the district. The decision behind his firing was based on what appears to be drugs being sold out of an ice cream truck in his most recent music video.
See that clip from the music video below.
“I just think this just went way too far, way too fast. It’s a depiction of pretty much how I grew up, and there’s no secret that in the city where I come from, drugs and gang violence were everyday parts of my life.” Newell, who grew up in the nearby neighborhood of Watts, explained.
That excuse may have worked for rappers in the 90's who weren't coaching kids in their off time, but the school wasn't buying it in this situation, and made the decision to let Newell go via a letter. That letter read in part: “Please know the decision to terminate you as a coach with our district is strictly related to our desire to separate our district and our schools from any affiliation with negative images and illegal activity, whether real or fictitious.”
While there will probably be parties on both sides of the fence of this one, there's a lesson to be learned in all of this. Keep in mind that, as a coach, your actions on AND off the field are held to a high standard because you're working with impressionable high school (or college) aged kids.
A music video is one thing, but a music video depicting drugs deals probably wasn't the best idea.
Looks like Youtube has shut down access to the music video itself.
Here is a video from a local news outlet about this whole thing.