Otis Newell, who has coached football at Simi Valley High, was fired because of negative depictions in a music video, CBS LA reported. He appeared in a hip-hop music video.
""I just think this just went way too far, way too fast," Newell told CBS LA. "It's a depiction of pretty much how I grew up, and there's no secret that in the city where I come from, drugs and gang violence were everyday parts of my life."
Newell, who grew up in Watts, said he received a letter from the district office stating, "Please know the decision to terminate you as a coach with our district is strictly related to our desire to separate our district and our schools from any affiliation with negative images and illegal activity, whether real or fictitious."