Miami Twerk Tour event in high school’s gym lands basketball coach in trouble

Nastya Nass is a celebrity in the world of twerking. Yes, that’s actually a thing. She has 6.8 million followers on Instagram who watch the high-definition videos of her twerking classes.

The video from her Feb. 22 “Twerk Tour” stop in Miami is an example of her oeuvre. A group of 47 diverse twerkers rapidly gyrate their glutes in tight shorts, in a variety of positions and techniques, while flanked by a hyped up crowd to a very long version of Nicki Minaj’s “Yikes.”

Miami-Dade County Public Schools has a problem with this particular video, however.

It was filmed at the Miami Beach Senior High School gym.

The specific location wasn’t tagged, but the scarlet-and-silver championship banners, scarlet hardwood basketball court and neutral wall tiles kind of give it away.

The high school gym served as the backdrop for the 13-minute video uploaded to YouTube five days ago. A shorter version of the video garnered 3.4 million views on Instagram.

Back that up now: How did the traveling twerker and her crew of dozens get inside a public school gym? The school district says the Hi Tides boys’ basketball coach, Jacob Shaw, allowed them to use it.

He allowed the organization to use the gym for an unauthorized event, according to school district spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego, adding that there could be legal ramifications if the video was used for promotional purposes.

She said to the district’s knowledge, no students were present, but Shaw has been reassigned and is currently under investigation by the district’s Office of Professional Standards. Shaw, 39, works at the school as a therapeutic support professional.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Shaw declined to comment.

“I’m not at liberty to talk about that right now,” he said. “My administration, they gotta talk about it.”

It was actually Shaw’s boss, Principal Maria Rodriguez, who reported the incident to the district’s region office the following Monday.

Still unclear is how Shaw came into contact with Nass and her crew. Nass, the film company Typo and other twerkers identified in other posted videos did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The school district is currently under pressure for how it allowed a Jewish center to “temporarily” operate after-school programs at two public schools without proper protocols for over a decade. A nearly 1,000-page report issued by the Inspector General reprimanded the school district for taking no responsibility for its haphazard rental procedures.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office has a copy of that report. The school district is expected to give a second response on how it could tighten up its facility rental protocols. The inspector general is expected to respond and determine whether the school district’s actions are enough.

Members of the district’s ethics committee said they felt a “lack of outrage or deep concern from the district” on the issue.

This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 6:01 PM.