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Celebrity cheerleader La’Darius Marshall, who rose to fame after appearing on Netflix’s “Cheer” docuseries, has been suspended by cheerleading’s governing bodies related to a potential violation of the sport’s athlete protection policies.
Marshall, 24, has been added to the list of banned or suspended participants maintained by USA Cheer and the U.S. All Star Federation (USASF). He is listed as temporarily ineligible pending an investigation.
No information about what prompted the suspension was provided. USASF’s athlete protection policies cover a range of issues including emotional, physical and sexual misconduct. Marshall and USASF officials did not respond to requests for comment. USA Cheer Executive Director Lauri Harris, in an email, said the report in “this instance” was received by USASF.
“They have investigative jurisdiction and placed the individual in question on the temporary ineligible list,” she said.
Marshall appeared in seasons 1 and 2 of the popular Netflix docuseries, which followed Texas’ Navarro College cheerleading team, and was one of the show’s breakout stars.
In September 2020, Marshall’s friend and “Cheer” co-star, Jerry Harris, was arrested by the FBI and charged with several federal crimes including producing child pornography. He pleaded guilty to two charges for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old in the bathroom during a cheer competition and paying a 17-year-old boy to send him sexually explicit photos and videos.
Last year Harris, 23, was sentenced to serve 12 years in federal prison. Harris has been permanently banned by USASF and USA Cheer.
The cheer organizations have suspended or banned more than 200 people over the past two-and-a-half years amid backlash over the sport’s inadequate athlete protection policies.
Though his suspension was public Thursday morning, Marshall on Thursday afternoon posted video of himself working with a young athlete inside a Florida gym owned by Cheer Athletics, a prominent cheerleading company. Kim Brubeck, compliance administrator for Cheer Athletics, said Marshall became an athlete at the Pensacola gym last week. Brubeck said the gym did not learn of Marshall’s suspension until Thursday night and removed him from its roster “immediately upon our knowledge of his eligibility loss.”
USASF officials did not respond Friday to an email asking why the organization had not notified Cheer Athletics as soon as Marshall was suspended.
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Marshall, who grew up in Florida, moved last year to Twin Falls, Idaho, where he is a coach for the Idaho All-Stars, according to his social media accounts. The gym’s owners did not respond to requests for comment.
He also lists himself on Instagram as a future member of the cheerleading team at Utah’s Weber State University and has posted photos and videos of himself practicing in a school gymnasiums.
Bryan Magaña, a Weber State University spokesman, said Marshall has never been enrolled at the school but attended a cheer clinic there.
Much of the cheerleading community’s attention is focused this weekend on Orlando, Florida, where The Cheerleading Worlds competition is taking place. Social media caught wind of Marshall’s suspension late Thursday, prompting speculation as well as questions about why.
Tricia L. Nadolny is an investigative reporter at USA TODAY. She can be reached at tnadolny@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @TriciaNadolny.
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