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Former San Jose State University volleyball star Brooke Slusser was banned from TikTok after posting several videos discussing her alleged experience sharing a team and apartment with a transgender teammate.
“I’m pretty angry about it,” Slusser told PK Press Club Digital.
Slusser’s account disappeared from the platform and she provided PK Press Club Digital with screenshots showing notification of her ban and an unsuccessful appeal. The notifications allege violations of “community guidelines.”
“We ask all users to follow our community guidelines to help us maintain a safe and respectful TikTok community,” the notice reads.
Brooke Slusser was banned from TikTok after posting videos discussing the SJSU volleyball scandal (Courtesy of Brooke Slusser)
Brooke Slusser was banned from TikTok (Courtesy of Brooke Slusser)
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PK Press Club Digital has contacted TikTok for comment.
TikTok previously banned activist sportswear brand XX-XY Athletics, which Slusser is signed with, after it released a video ad advocating for the protection of women’s and women’s sports from biological trans male athletes.
TikTok was previously owned by Chinese company ByteDance, before finalizing a $14 billion deal to move its U.S. operations to a new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, to avoid a federal ban. However, ByteDance still owns around 20% of the company.
Slusser has been the target of a viral left-wing hate campaign on TikTok and X over the past week after he began speaking out about his alleged experience at SJSU. Its content began to be published after the university and the California State University (CSU) system filed a lawsuit against the federal government to challenge a Department of Education investigation that determined SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of a transgender volleyball player.
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“You find out you’re relaxing in bed with a man you have no idea about…I [was] unknowingly sharing a bed at that time with a man,” Slusser said in the interview, also alleging that SJSU volleyball coach Todd Kress encouraged her to live in the same apartment as her trans teammate while another group of players also sought an end tenant.
The fallout from the interview prompted prominent activists, lawmakers and even an actor to speak out, siding for or against Slusser.
A coalition of activists to “save women’s sports” rushed to Slusser’s defense, with OutKick host Riley Gaines, XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova and former ESPN star Sage Steele leading the charge to defend Slusser against pro-trans detractors.
“I would just say that people who don’t know my life or my trauma don’t have the opportunity to say how good or bad my time at SJSU was. I hope they never have to understand going through something as horrible as that,” Slusser told PK Press Club Digital about the negative reaction.
TRUMP ADMIN RESPONDS AFTER SJSU LAWSUIT TO MAKE TITLE IX INVESTIGATION INTO TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL
After the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced in late January that an investigation into the university for its handling of a trans athlete and other players had concluded that the school had violated Title IX., SJSU and the California State University (CSU) system have refused to resolve the violation.
Instead, SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson announced Friday that the school and CSU system were suing the federal government to challenge the investigation.
“Because we believe OCR’s findings are not based in fact or law, SJSU and CSU today filed a lawsuit against the federal government to challenge those findings and prevent the federal government from taking punitive action against the university, including the potential withholding of critical federal funding,” Teniente-Matson said Friday.
“This is not a step we take lightly. However, we have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of our institution and the rule of law, while ensuring that every member of our community is treated fairly and in accordance with the law. Our position is simple: we followed the law and cannot be punished for it.”
The school is also asking OCR to reverse its findings and close its investigation.
Teniente-Matson affirmed the university’s commitment to advocating for the LGBTQ community in the announcement.
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“Our support for LGBTQ members of our community, who have suffered threats and harm in recent years, remains unwavering. We know that the attention the university has received on this matter and the investigative process that followed have been destabilizing for many members of our community,” the university president said.
Among the Department of Education’s findings was that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team punch her face during a game. The department claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but subsequently subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”
