A woman who was sitting courtside at State Farm Arena in Atlanta were ejected from the arena following a verbal altercation involving her husband and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
The game was in the last leg with a little over eight minutes to go when the woman, identified as Juliana Carlos, and her husband, Chris Carlos, got into a heated exchange with James on the court.
![LeBron James and Courtside Karen LeBron James and Courtside Karen](https://data.ibtimes.sg/en/full/46493/lebron-james-and-courtside-karen.png?w=736)
During the argument, Juliana pulled down her face mask to shout at the athlete, prompting the on-court referees to huddle with arena security, who escorted the couple out of the building. Video footage of the incident shows James exchanging words with Juliana, who is courtside, before security steps in.
James Addresses Controversy
Following the game, James took to Twitter to dub Juliana as "Courtside Karen."
Courtside Karen was MAD MAD!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 2, 2021
Before the tweet, he spoke to the media and said he was happy fans were back in the stands and did not believe Juliana should have been kicked out over the verbal altercation.
LeBron James on what happened courtside with the fan pic.twitter.com/S1kQdsCsbq
— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) February 2, 2021
Juliana Claims James 'Talked Sh*t' to Her Husband
![Juliana Carlos Juliana Carlos](https://data.ibtimes.sg/en/full/46494/juliana-carlos.png?w=636)
In a series of videos posted on Instagram, Juliana claimed she got kicked out because she told James "I'm going to f*ck you up" after he cussed out her husband, who who she described as a "Hawks fan" who had "this issue with LeBron."
Woman says she got kicked out of game for telling LeBron James she was going to "fuck him up" after LeBron stared down her husband pic.twitter.com/rcna7q25Dc
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) February 2, 2021
She goes on to say she was "minding her own business" and drinking her wine when James said something to Chris, prompting her to lash out at the NBA star before she was escorted out of the arena.
"All of a sudden, I'm getting kicked out," she says. "Excuse me, I have courtside seats that I pay for. F--- you, LeBron. ... You're going to let a 25-year-old girl intimidate you during a game?"
— cinco (@therealCinco) February 2, 2021
Twitter Reactions:
"Courtside Karen" is now trending on Twitter and has become the subject of memes on the micro-blogging platform with some social media users comparing her to the "Woman Yelling at a cat meme" while others raised doubts over her claimed age. Here are some of the best reactions:
Same energy from Courtside Karen. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/UurTIALjU6
— Monkey Knife Fight ðŸµðŸ”ªðŸ‘ŠðŸ’° (@mkf) February 2, 2021
Biggest twist was that she's 25. Would have bet all my GameStop shares she's 40.
— Jonathan Fleischman (@Flschbrger) February 2, 2021
Courtside Karen: "I'm 25!"
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) February 2, 2021
Twitter: pic.twitter.com/RUD8pHQNZf
LeBron got Courtside Karen ejected on the first day of Black History Month. Iconic. The Chef's kiss.
— Playoff Zondo (@ZC_Mthembu) February 2, 2021