Connect with us

Sports

Dodgers say Nezza is not banned from stadium for singing national anthem in Spanish

Published

on

Dodgers say Nezza is not banned from stadium for singing national anthem in Spanish

What started as a subtle act of protest has become national news.

Three days after singer and social media personality Nezza performed a Spanish version of the national anthem at Dodger Stadium — despite being asked by a team employee to sing it in English — the performer further addressed the situation Tuesday in an interview with CNN.

“With everything that’s been happening, I just felt like I needed to stand with my people and show them that I’m with them,” Nezza (whose full name is Vanessa Hernández) said on CNN’s “The Lead.” “I wanted to represent them that day.”

Nezza’s performance of the Spanish anthem — a version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” commissioned by the U.S. State Department in 1945 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt — became a viral story after she posted a video on TikTok of an unidentified Dodgers employee telling her beforehand that “we are going to do the song in English today, so I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed.”

Advertisement

Nezza proceeded to sing the Spanish version anyway; doing so on the same day thousands gathered downtown to protest President Trump and recent ICE raids around Los Angeles in the last two weeks.

In email communications with the team leading up to her performance, Nezza said she asked if she could sing the anthem in both English and Spanish, but was told no because she would have only a 90-second window for her performance.

Still, she said she arrived at the stadium “fully thinking that I was welcome [to sing in Spanish], because nobody told me in that email thread, ‘No, you can’t.’”

“Had they told me you can’t have any Spanish in there,” she added, “I would have respectfully declined and not shown up on Saturday.”

Instead, Nezza performed the anthem in Spanish prior to the Dodgers-Giants game, before posting two videos on TikTok explaining the situation that quickly went viral.

Advertisement

On Sunday, a Dodgers official told The Times in a statement that she would be welcome back at the stadium.

In Tuesday’s CNN interview, Nezza said she was “very shocked” to learn she was welcome back at the ballpark, noting that “30 seconds after my performance, we actually received a call that said, ‘Don’t ever call us again. Don’t ever email us again. The rest of your clients are never welcome here again.’ So for me, that kind of feels like a ban.”

The Dodgers, however, reaffirmed to CNN that there were “no hard feelings” resulting from the situation. And a team spokesperson confirmed to The Times this week that, “She is certainly welcome back at the stadium. She is not banned from the stadium.”

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sports

Futures Game MVP Josue De Paula wants to be a Dodger 'for a very long time'

Published

on

Futures Game MVP Josue De Paula wants to be a Dodger 'for a very long time'

The center fielder for the Dodgers’ Class A Great Lakes affiliate is a former first-round draft pick. The other two outfielders were selected for the Futures Game.

Who’s the best outfielder on the team?

“We’re all good, brother,” said the left fielder, Josue De Paula. “We’ve all got talent. We all excel somewhere.

“Us together? It’s a dream squad. I don’t feel like you see that much talent that often.”

De Paula flashed his considerable talent Saturday, hitting a three-run homer that decided the National League’s 4-2 victory over the American League and earned him the Futures Game most valuable player award.

Advertisement

The only other Dodgers prospect to win that award: infielder Chin-Lung Hu, in 2007.

“This is definitely motivating for me,” De Paula said. “Mentally, it was a big moment, to prove, especially to myself, who I really am.”

De Paula’s home run traveled 416 feet, triggering a round of fireworks in the sky and a lump in De Paula’s throat as he crossed home plate.

“I was overtaken by emotion,” he said, “especially doing it in front of my dad.”

His father lives in New York City. The Midwest League is far away.

Advertisement

Perhaps the major leagues are not so far away. De Paula is 20, but he is in his fourth pro season. The Dodgers signed him out of the Dominican Republic, but he was born in New York City and he is a second cousin of former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury.

“Baseball called me,” De Paula said. “I fell in love with it at a young age.”

Zyhir Hope, the Great Lakes right fielder, also appeared in the Futures Game. He singled ahead of De Paula and scored on the home run, so he was waiting at home plate to congratulate De Paula.

“We do it often,” De Paula said, smiling.

Hope, also 20, smiled when asked what he liked about De Paula’s game.

Advertisement

“Everything,” he said. “He takes it easily. He’s calm, relaxed and laid back, but he works hard. He’s a great dude.”

Before the season, Baseball Prospectus ranked De Paula and Hope among the top 10 prospects in baseball. Currently, MLB Pipeline ranks both among the top 40.

De Paula offers power, speed, and advanced plate discipline, although scouts wonder whether he can stick in left field or might need to try first base or designated hitter. Hope has advanced from a good-fielding prospect with uncertain hitting skills in the Chicago Cubs’ system — the Dodgers got him in the Michael Busch trade — to a gap hitter with speed.

This is the time of year, of course, where contenders trade prospects to fill major league needs. Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, rarely trades his top prospects, and De Paula ranks No. 1 in the Dodgers’ farm system. On the other hand, the Dodgers need pitching help.

“I do want to get to L.A. I hope that’s in God’s plans,” De Paula said. “At the end of the day, we never make the decisions. We’ve just got to focus on what we need to do on the field and whatever happens, happens.

Advertisement

“But I really do hope I become a Dodger and I stay there for a very long time.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Katie Taylor defeats Amanda Serrano for third time in controversial majority decision

Published

on

Katie Taylor defeats Amanda Serrano for third time in controversial majority decision

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Two of the world’s greatest female boxers of all time completed their trilogy on Friday night – and it was a three-fight sweep.

Katie Taylor earned her third victory over Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden, the same venue where their epic trilogy began over three years ago.

The first couple of fights had controversial scorecards – the first was a split decision for Taylor, and the second, despite Taylor being deducted a point and landing 107 fewer punches, resulted in a unanimous victory for Taylor.

 

Advertisement

Katie Taylor, left, and Amanda Serrano after the tenth round after their undisputed super lightweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden in New York, USA. (Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

This one, too, was also highly contested, with one judge ruling it a draw. But two others gave a 97-93 win to Taylor, giving her the majority decision.

Taylor initially shied away from saying there was any added pressure to Friday’s bout given the circumstances of the first two fights, doing so again shortly after the victory. However, in the ring, she let out a thunderous “come on” celebration, almost as if to say that Serrano simply couldn’t beat her, and admitted later on it was “very satisfying.”

Katie Taylor wins

Katie Taylor is declared the winner by majority decision against Amanda Serrano after their undisputed super lightweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden in New York, USA. (Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

UFC’S DANA WHITE HINTS THAT RECENTLY RETIRED JON JONES, CONOR MCGREGOR COULD RETURN FOR WHITE HOUSE FIGHTS

“There’s always a bit of pressure going into these fights. It’s normal to feel a bit of pressure, but I didn’t feel any more pressure than previous fights,” Taylor said post-fight. “Every single fight I’ve been involved in, they’re huge events. There’s always a bit of relief when your hand is raised. Complete joy. All the hard work pays, all the sacrifices you’re making, it’s a grueling sport, so it’s such a relief when your hand is raised.”

Advertisement

There isn’t much left to be said for Taylor anymore, and there isn’t much else for her to accomplish – she has proven she is the best of this generation, and perhaps of all time, by again defending her WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF super lightweight titles to a person who is easily in women’s boxing’s Mt. Rushmore.

Retirement is an option, but she’s not ready to commit one way or another.

“I wouldn’t say I have anything left to prove,” said Taylor. “But I’m going to sit back and relax and will make a decision on whether I’ll fight again in the future.”

Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in ring

Katie Taylor, left, and Amanda Serrano during their undisputed super lightweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden in New York, USA. (Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Taylor improved to 25-1 in her illustrious career, while Serrano is now 47-4-1 – with three of those losses to Taylor.

Advertisement

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Continue Reading

Sports

Despite injury, Kobe Brown showcases his potential for Clippers in Summer League win

Published

on

Despite injury, Kobe Brown showcases his potential for Clippers in Summer League win

The Clippers’ NBA Summer League contest Friday against the Houston Rockets offered a chance for Kobe Brown to show he’s capable of being a rotational player for the Clippers this season.

But misfortune struck in the third quarter when Brown got tangled with a Rockets defender who fell on his right ankle. Brown sat on the Clippers’ bench for a few minutes before he limped to their locker room.

Brown didn’t return in the Clippers’ 95-92 win at Cox Pavilion on Friday night after sustaining what the team described as a right ankle contusion.

Brown is entering his third season with the Clippers and the team is eager for the 2023 30th overall draft pick to make an impact. He’ll make $2.65 million this season and will have a qualifying offer for next season at $4.7 million.

“He’s just got to continue to do what he did tonight,” said Clippers assistant coach Jerry Castleberry, the team’s Summer League coach. “Play great defense. Make the right reads. We’ve been talking about it all training camp. Get in the paint, draw two, make the right reads and if they put a small on him, he showed his ability to be able to score against a mismatch tonight and doing it the right way — quickly, getting downhill, not dancing, just getting straight to the point.

Advertisement

Brown scored 10 points in the first quarter, going four for five from the field, making both of his three-point attempts. On one of those threes, he ran the length of the court and took a pass for a lob dunk.

Brown finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes.

“Ankle is good,” Castleberry said. “Ankle is fine. Just precautionary. He’ll be OK.”

The Clippers waived Jordan Miller before summer league started, but they still had a roster spot so he was added to the team.

He did not disappoint Friday, producing 23 points and 11 rebounds.

Advertisement

Miller has been given an opportunity to show the Clippers — and any other team — how the Summer League is useful for him.

“With this team it takes a lot of humility. Not thinking less of yourself but also thinking less of yourself,” Miller said. “Just finding a way to maximize whatever role it is. It’s not just for me, but it’s for all the guys. We got guys that can score. The only way we’re going to get on the floor is defending and making open threes. That’s just the reality of it. … But for the most part, just working game reps. Like, you’re not going to get a lot of ball-screens. You’re not going to get a lot of touches. So you just got to work on your off-ball shooting, movement shooting and being able to not mess up defensively.”

It was on defense where Clippers rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser was at his best.

Advertisement

Niederhauser blocked four shots and had 10 rebounds. He used his seven-foot frame as a deterrent and displayed why the Clippers drafted him out of Penn State.

“He did everything he was supposed to do,” Castleberry said. “He was great with rim-protection, changing shots and I just thought he was good.”

Continue Reading

Trending