'We’re Not Friends': Flau’jae Johnson Explains Why She and Angel Reese Are No Longer Close

Reese first acknowledged the cooling of their relationship on a September 2024 episode of her Unapologetically Angel podcast.

“I still support Flau’jae. We aren’t as close as we used to be,” Reese said. “There’s no hard feelings or anything, but we aren’t as close. It happens. You don’t have the best relationships with everybody, and don’t always continue relationships with people. So I wish her the best always, and I’m always gonna support her… but yeah, there’s no love lost.”

Their comments confirmed what many fans had speculated in recent months, as the two stars—once frequent fixtures on each other’s social media—were no longer posting together.

Media, Locker Room Dynamics, and Family Drama

During her Breakfast Club interview, Johnson was asked whether their friendship may have been affected by conversations among “their people.” She agreed, suggesting that outside factors contributed.

“Yeah, it was a lot of media, it was a lot of locker room stuff, you know what I’m saying? Stuff that go on behind the scenes. But it happens. It happens.”

One notable factor was a public dispute between the players’ mothers. In May 2024, Johnson’s mother, Kia Brooks, accused Reese of having a GPA below 2.0 at LSU in a social media post. Reese’s mother, Angel Webb Reese, responded by criticizing Brooks’ grammar and escalating the exchange. The public nature of the spat is widely believed to have further strained the players’ relationship.

Mutual Respect Remains Between Angel Reese and Fla’jae Johnson

Despite the fallout, both Johnson and Reese have continued to express public support for one another’s careers.

“I support her and everything that she do. She killin’ it in the WNBA,” Johnson said. “I be on social media, clownin’ the folks that be talkin’ down on her. I’m just proud of her.”

Reese, now starring for the Chicago Sky as a WNBA rookie, has also maintained that there is “no love lost” between them.

While Johnson and Reese’s friendship may have changed, both players continue to be linked by their shared success. The 2023 LSU national championship run brought both national stardom and a permanent place in program history.

As Johnson noted, “That thing that we did together… you can never take that away from us.”