The song, which is a parody of the 2003 film starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Curtis, discusses the newfound freedom of not being racially profiled and being allowed to say ni**a after both artists mysteriously switch lives.
Footage of the team singing along to the song went viral Sunday after the cheerful athletes were recorded disregarding the racial slur. What seemed to go unnoticed by the athletes, as many critics have pointed out, is that Lil Dicky is suggesting that he could only say the word if he were black.
"Man, f**k y'all ni**as, 'cause I'm that ni**a, ni**a, ni**a, ni**a, I'm that ni**a," the team is heard singing. "I woke up in Chris Brown's body, somehow this sh*t turned into Freaky Friday."
Though the video was initially uploaded onto Snapchat, it ultimately wound up on YouTube and made the rounds on several social media platforms.
In response to the bubbling outrage over the weekend, head coach John Sung gave a phone interview to the Roanoke Times and described the incident as a "teachable moment."
"It's not something that we're proud of. The team is very apologetic and sorry," he told the publication. "There's nobody of any color that should say it. Period. There's nobody that should say it."
The coach later noted that there "was no malice involved" and that the players "thought that they were singing along to a song."
"They're good kids that made a bad decision," he added. "The team is extremely sorry. They're trying to make it right. And I know that we'll never make it right with anybody, but… this is a moment that defines this program but yet a moment that will help this program be better."
Apologies aside, netizens have a thing or two to say on the matter.
— Josh Sánchez (@jnsanchez) March 28, 2018
— Alec Phillips (@alecphillips25) March 27, 2018
— STAL (@__Hennergy) March 28, 2018
It's unclear whether the players will be met with any disciplinary action.
