A high school principal who posted a divisive opinion on the late Kobe Bryant has been suspended. Liza Sejkora, the principal of Camas High School in Washington, posted about the rape charge that was leveled against Bryant in 2003. The post was made on Facebook the same day Bryant and eight others were killed in a helicopter crash last month.
“Not gonna lie. Seems to me that karma caught up with a rapist today,” Sejkora wrote on Facebook. The post was later deleted, but The Columbian notes that she did follow up with another, which read: “You are free to judge me for the post just as I am free to judge the person the post was about.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
District Superintendent Jeff Snell released a statement that claimed the principal was put on leave “in light of threats to… Sejkora and concern from our community.” He added that the district is working to “support her in rebuilding trust with the community she serves.”
“As school district staff, we strive to model a high standard for students,” Snell continued. “This situation did not meet that standard.”
Sejkora also called the post a “personal, visceral reaction,” as well as “inappropriate and tasteless.”
“In education, we remind students to think before they post online, especially when feelings are inflamed,” she explained. “We also teach our students about context. My emotions and past experiences got the best of me in that moment.”
The high school principal wasn’t alone in posting about Bryant’s rape accusation. Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood also tweeted the day of his death that she was “heartbroken for Kobe’s family. He was a sports hero. He was also a rapist. And all of these truths can exist simultaneously.”
Wood received some severe reactions from Bryant defenders and has since made her Twitter account private.
Journalist Gayle King also came under fire when she asked WNBA star Lisa Leslie about the accusation. However, King pointed out that the excerpt most saw was taken out of context of a very long, wide-ranging interview, and later took to Instagram to explain her position.
“I know that if I had only seen the clip that you saw, I’d be extremely angry with me too,” King confessed in a video. “I am mortified, I am embarrassed and I am very angry.”
Bryant was accused of sexual assault back in 2003. Though the case was eventually dropped, the NBA star later admitted that while he thought their sex was consensual, it was clear his partner did not. The case was settled out of civil court for an undisclosed amount.
