UCLA Football releases statement about elevator video involving freshman lineman

UCLA Football is responding to the recent viral video involving freshman defensive lineman Jay Toia.

A roughly 50-second clip made the rounds on social media this week of Toia intimidating and threatening a group of students on an elevator. The video shows Toia blocking the exit to the elevator, apparently because someone in the group said that they attended rival school USC. Toia repeatedly threatened to “slap a b—h,” while multiple people on the elevator insisted that they actually go to UC Santa Barbara. The people said that mentioning USC was just a joke.

You can see the video here, but beware of the bad language.

UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond and head coach Chip Kelly released a joint statement about the video late on Wednesday.

“We’re aware of a recent video in which a student-athlete made disparaging remarks,” the statement read. “This was inappropriate and not in line with our values and expectations. As such, we are taking disciplinary action and working with campus partners to assist with education for the student.”

Toia remained at practice with the team on Wednesday after the emergence of the video. But the Los Angeles Times reports that Toia did lose an NIL sponsorship with apparel brand Campus Mogul because of the controversy.

The former four-star recruit Toia has played in just one game for the Bruins this season, recording three tackles in a win over Arizona last month. Interestingly enough, Toia was originally committed to USC before transferring to UCLA.

Photo: Jul 24, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins coach Chip Kelly during Pac-12 football media day at Hollywood & Highland. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports