University of Southern California's spirit squad, the Song Girls, has projected the ideals of Southern California and USC prestige for more than half a century.

However, an investigation reveals allegations of a toxic culture within the dance squad, in which some women were reprimanded for their eating habits, personal appearance and even their sex lives.

In a recent interview for "LA Times Today," reporter Ryan Kartje joined host Lisa McRee with the details.

The Song Girls are a renewed spirit and dance team at USC, where they have performed and cheered at athletic events since 1968.

"They have always been seen as these ambassadors; college women who largely fit a similar image. It is no coincidence that many were blonde, attractive women who were not necessarily cheerleaders — they did not like that description — but are seen as a dance spirit team. They earned the reputation of being these kinds of glowing and sparkling images of USC athletics, and they were trotted out throughout the university," said Kartje.

Behind the sparkling image of the team, several women had complained that they were part of a culture in which long-time coach Lori Nelson had rebuked them in front of the team for their eating habits and their appearances.

"Recently, a couple of those women came forward and spoke to Mike Bohn, the athletic director in February 2020, and from there, things rolled into family members and parents of those Song Girls," added Kartje. "The family members reached out to university officials, and it took six months for those complaints to lead to a Title IX investigation into Nelson's behavior. I spoke to 10 Song Girls, and many of them spoke about coming forward but were too scared to do so, knowing what the fallout has been for others that have come forward."

One of the women Kartje spoke with was Josie Bullen, a dancer for most of her life that came to USC in 2017.

"[She] saw the allure of being a Song Girl and just being seen and being able to dance on the biggest of stages. She had these high expectations of becoming a rock star," said Kartje. "Over the course of time she started developing eating issues, she ended up being diagnosed with binge-eating disorder, and dealt with a lot of anxiety based on her experience with the coach Lori Nelson, and with many of her Song Girl teammates."

Alexa Trujillo was a member of the 2013 Song Girls and was seen as one of the better dancers on the team. 

"Trujillo is a petite, Cuban-American woman with dark hair, kind of different from the image many of the Song Girls had shown," said Kartje. "When she auditioned for the team a second year, many people had told her she might be a captain, but instead, she was cut from the team, surprisingly. When she reached out to Nelson to ask why that had been the case, Nelson told her the only thing she could think of at the time was because of her appearance. That sent Trujillo into a spiral over what she could do to change her appearance to be part of the team again."

Kartje said Lori Nelson has denied the allegations made against her.

"When the allegations were presented to her as part of the Title IX investigation in late October, she was put on administrative leave, and very soon after that, she resigned," added Kartje. "None of the women were given any reason why that happened. But she is no longer a coach, and a former protégé of hers is in charge of the program."

Click the arrow above for the interview. Watch "LA Times Today" at 7 and 10 p.m. Monday through Friday on Spectrum News 1 and the app.