Principal who got 'Man Pageant' lap dances from HS students also was touched, rubbed by male student during raunchy 'Like a Virgin' routine in 2020 video



The Kentucky high school principal under fire over photos that show him receiving lap dances from scantily clad students during a "Man Pageant" this week also watched a male student in a white gown writhe on a gym floor — and even touch and rub him — to the tune of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" in a newly surfaced 2020 video.

What are the details?

Kentucky sports journalist Nate Bryan posted the video to Twitter and said Hazard High School Principal Donald "Happy" Mobelini — who's also mayor of the eastern Kentucky city — watched the action from the "front row."

In the clip, the male student in the white gown imitates Madonna's infamous live rendition of "Like a Virgin" in which the legendary singer writhed onstage in sexually suggestive ways.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NateInSports

In the 2020 video recorded during Hazard's homecoming week, the male student rubs his hands on and places his arms around Mobelini's neck, and later the principal claps along to the beat.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NateInSports

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NateInSports

The Louisville Courier-Journal confirmed that the man in the video receiving the performer's attention is indeed Mobelini.

Here's the clip:

Hazard High School.2020 HomecomingLike a VirginAnd Mayor/Principal Happy is front rowBut please, feel free to… https://t.co/KO89Af8aUf

— Nate Bryan (@NateInSports) 1635433715.0

Bryan's "taking this outta context" remark in the tweet appears to be in reference to a local mom who vehemently defended the "Man Pageant" controversy and appeared annoyed that it made the news in the first place: "People don't know how to keep their mouths shut," she told reporters.

Fox News said Mobelini has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

The Courier-Journal made note of still another Hazard High video from several years ago showing a male student dressed in a bra, shorts, and wig grinding on two other male students sitting in chairs in the middle of the gym, while a fourth student throws a wad of what looks like cash into the air.

Plenty of local support for Mobelini

Despite the district superintendent saying discipline was handed down over the "Man Pageant" fallout — though who received it and what it amounted to are being kept under wraps — Mobelini has been getting a lot of local support.

About 100 residents and students gathered in a Hazard city park as rain fell Thursday to rally for the high school and for the principal-mayor, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported in a separate story.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

More from the paper:

Some in attendance had changed their social media profile to a photo of the principal in a superhero costume. Others in a county where nearly 90% voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election blamed the media and refused to speak to reporters.

Cars honked as they passed the park, and cheers erupted when Mobelini — who had been avoiding public comment — finally strode toward the crowd, shaking hands with residents.

"Happy! Happy! Happy!" chanted several dozen Hazard High students.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Mobelini gets a lot of love for what he does for those in the community who struggle with poverty, the paper said, adding that he's known for providing rides and money and leading food drives and home building projects and collecting furniture for needy families.

But other residents told the Courier-Journal they won't knock Mobelini due to his power as mayor and principal: "A man who controls the city and the school system is a man people are afraid to challenge for fear of job loss," one resident told the Courier-Journal on the condition of anonymity for fear of backlash.

More anger over 'Man Pageant' news coverage

"People who were not even connected to the school went after us," student Gavin Goins, a Hazard sophomore who was at the event, told the paper. "I think it's an attack on tradition."

Tosha Lindon — a Hazard High graduate whose freshman son was at the event — told the paper that "Man Pageant" participants "take their robes off and start twerking or whatever. The teachers laughed, they got up and pushed them off. Somebody took a picture. And yes, it looks bad. Yes, it was in poor taste. You know how social media is. It just exploded."

Lindon added to the Courier-Journal that "now we're being made out to be child molesters, a cult, and I've heard we're promoting human trafficking — the most ludicrous stuff on social media by people who aren't from Hazard, they don't have children in Hazard schools, they know nothing about Eastern Kentucky. But the power of social media: That's the way it is. It sucks."

Students at Hazard High School rally in support of their principalyoutu.be

Mom defends 'Man Pageant' where HS students gave lap dances to staff — and is annoyed the story got out: 'People don't know how to keep their mouths shut'



A mother vehemently defended a Kentucky high school's "Man Pageant" in which students were photographed giving lap dances to staff members, including the principal — and also was annoyed that the homecoming event made the news in the first place.

"People don't know how to keep their mouths shut," the mom told reporters.

What are the details?

Hollie Layne — whose son and his friends participated in the Hazard High School event, according to WLEX-TV — told the station the controversy has been overblown.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"It has been taken completely out of context," Layne told the station. "There are only photos being shown on the internet, no videos. So, the photos don't show ... the teachers pushing the children off of them."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

She added to WLEX that pushing the limits and embarrassing teachers is part of the fun.

"If everybody is perfect, then I would say, 'Yeah, maybe we do need to rethink something,'" Layne added to the station. "But until somebody can prove that something is going on here other than just homecoming week and teenagers being teenagers, then I will support my kids."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

In a clip from WHAS-TV that appears to be part of the same interview with Layne, she added that "none of my children have been hurt, none of the teachers have been hurt. It's embarrassing to them that this has to happen at their school because people don't know how to keep their mouths shut."

The above comments begin at the 41-second mark:

Kentucky high school under investigation after Homecoming tradition goes viralyoutu.be

Others adults sound off

Hazard mother Jenna Smith has a family member at the high school and kids in the district, and she told WLEX the "Man Pageant" should have been shut down when adults noticed what students were wearing.

"I think that they should have at that point said, 'Hey, I know this is a joke. But let's stop. This is inappropriate,'" Smith told the station, adding that "yes, the kids should just be kids, and they should be allowed to have fun, but is giving a lap dance or witnessing somebody else give an adult a lap dance — is that a child-appropriate activity? And to me, it is not."

Another woman interviewed off camera for WHAS disagreed with Layne that the activity was taken out of context, saying he students in the photographs were "half naked, which is almost pornography."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Other photos from the event showed female students dressed in "Hooters" costumes and carrying glasses full of liquid apparently meant to look like beer — as well as students and staff members appearing to spank or paddle each other, WLEX reported.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Still, a couple of seniors at the school saw nothing wrong with the activity.

"It wasn't meant to be anything sexual," Legend Goins told WKYT-TV. "It was just a joke so we could get more laughs so we could win."

John Mackslover implied to WKYT that the spectacle wasn't anything new at Hazard High: "I think that everyone's taking it way too far. Every year up to this year, I would say they're just as vulgar, as you would put it."

Principal participates

One of the adults featured in the photos is Hazard High School Principal Donald "Happy" Mobelini, who's also the mayor of Hazard, WLEX reported.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

But Layne — who also spoke to WKYT — defended the principal, telling the station that "Happy is one of the best people there are. He would do anything to help anybody." WKYT added that Layne is the "mother of one of the students pictured."

Homecoming rally causes controversyyoutu.be

Unrelated lawsuit against principal

In related news, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Mobelini was accused in a 2019 lawsuit of not properly chaperoning a school trip to New York City and Washington, D.C., during which one student allegedly raped another student.

Two Hazard High teachers are also named in the suit, and a jury trial is scheduled for next August, the paper said, citing court records. Mobelini and the other chaperones have asked that the lawsuit be dismissed, the Herald-Leader reported.

More from the paper:

In 2008, Mobelini was investigated twice for alcohol incidents involving students.

The Herald-Leader reported that in one situation, photos surfaced online of him driving students around as they smoked and drank alcohol. Mobelini came under similar criticism in 2008 after police caught students drinking on the school's football field moments after he left them. Mobelini did not get into trouble in either case because he was unaware of the drinking, a Herald-Leader article at the time said.

Disciplinary action over 'Man Pageant' has been taken

Hazard Independent Schools Superintendent Sondra Combs said Wednesday evening that "appropriate disciplinary action has been taken" after an investigation into the controversial activities at Hazard High, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.

But details about the disciplinary action were not disclosed, as Combs told the paper that since it's a "personnel matter" school officials are "not allowed to disclose any further information regarding the specifics of the discipline."