A Florida school principal is fighting for her job after a lyric from rapper Fetty Wap’s smash hit “Trap Queen” mysteriously surfaced in a middle school yearbook and was credited to her.
Katie O’Connell, principal of Trout Creek Academy in St. Johns County, Florida, was placed on administrative leave after the line, “Everybody hating, we just call them fans though!” appeared beneath a photo of the school in the yearbook’s opening pages.
The quote comes from Fetty Wap’s 2015 blockbuster single “Trap Queen,” a song that helped launch the New Jersey rapper to stardom and dominated charts during its release.
The lyric was attributed to O’Connell, sparking outrage among some parents and triggering a district investigation.
O’Connell insists she had nothing to do with it.
“I approved the yearbook twice on April 9, and so did my assistant principal,” she told Action News Jax. “That quote in that area was not even in the book.”
The veteran educator said she only discovered the issue after receiving screenshots circulating on Facebook. She expressed frustration that critics went public before contacting her.
Florida Principal Katie O’Connell Fights For Her Job Over Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” Lyrics In Trout Creek Academy Yearbook
“There were certain parents that went straight to the district, straight to the news, or straight to Facebook,” O’Connell said. “None of them called me. I received no phone calls, emails, or questions about the yearbook.”
Assistant Principal Samantha Sawruk backed O’Connell’s version of events. In an email obtained by local media, Sawruk wrote, “Had the quote been there at the time of admin editing, it would have been corrected.”
But the controversy deepened after yearbook teacher Jodi Stobe allegedly gave conflicting accounts. While Stobe reportedly said the quote wasn’t present during administrative review, she later claimed O’Connell saw it before distribution.
“Yes. Ms. O’Connell said, ‘Oh, my quote made it,’” Stobe allegedly told district official Gene Bennett.
O’Connell denies the allegation and believes the lyric may have been inserted after the final approval process.
Her attorney, Jack Webb, blasted the controversy as “a bunch of garbage.”
“She’s getting thrown under the bus for something she was not responsible for,” Webb said.
The principal also revealed she has received harassment and even threats since the story erupted.
“I have an exemplary record,” O’Connell said. “There’s no reason to throw away someone’s career or hurt a family like this.”
District officials have yet to explain how the Fetty Wap lyric ended up in the yearbook or who inserted it.
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