[imagesource: Revolt TV/ Getty Images / @julianaacarlos]

2021 has its first major Karen, and she has more than earned a guest spot in the official movie, if it ever gets made.

Juliana Carlos also picked a pretty formidable adversary, going after LeBron James, the man widely regarded as one of, if not the, greatest male basketball player of all time.

Picture the scene – Juliana is sitting courtside in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on Monday night, watching the Atlanta Hawks take on James’ Los Angeles Lakers.

During the fourth quarter, Juliana and her husband, Chris Carlos, exchanged words with James, and when Juliana took down her mask to shout at the Lakers star, she was ejected from her seats and the arena.

NBA rules stipulate that anybody attending games in person must wear their masks at all times whilst courtside.

To add further insult to injury, the Lakers won 107-99.

Juliana then let loose on her Instagram account (83 000 followers at the time of writing and yes, she has called herself an influencer), going full Karen.

The video below compiles footage she shared to Instagram, much of which has now been deleted, from before, during, and after the game:

Here’s what the live TV coverage of the exchange looked like:

The commentator mentions a meme at the end, and I believe he’s talking about this one:

Or rather:

these courtside karen memes are too good 🤣 pic.twitter.com/1njTpGHlIL

— Just Joshin 🧊📦 (@joshcarlosjosh) February 2, 2021

On Tuesday night, when Juliana realised she should probably take a few deep breaths and step back, she released an apology.

Here’s The Washington Post:

“To say things escalated quickly at [Monday’s] game is an understatement and I want to apologize for losing my cool and removing my mask in the heat of the moment,” she wrote.

“My husband is a huge sports fan and we’re passionate people and let’s be real: sports wouldn’t be sports without a little trash-talking. What should have been a quick back-and-forth between two adults got out of hand and my natural instinct to stand up for the man I love kicked in. Did I get defensive when that happened? Yes. Did I use offensive language when I could have taken the higher road? Yes. And for these things I take full responsibility.”

According to courtside video from Juliana and others in close vicinity, the only comment that is audible from James is him saying “Ol’ steroid ass”.

For what it’s worth, reports People, after the match, James didn’t think Juliana, her husband, and two others should have been ejected:

“At the end of the day, I’m happy fans are back in the building,” he said. “I miss that interaction. I need that interaction; we as players need that interaction.”

“I don’t feel like it was warranted to be kicked out,” he went on. “There was a back-and-forth between two grown men. We said our piece, he said his piece, I said my piece. And then when someone else jumped into it and said their piece, but I didn’t think they should’ve been kicked out.”

He did also tweet this, though:

Courtside Karen was MAD MAD!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 2, 2021

Between courtside Karens and those on the court itself, all’s fair in love and war.

[sources:washpost&people]