Nets guard Kyrie Irving did not retract his promotion of an antisemitic film and book on social media earlier this week despite saying he “meant no disrespect” by doing so.
“The ‘Anti-Semitic’ label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday,” Irving wrote on Twitter. “I embrace and want to learn from all walks of life and religions.”
Late on Friday night, the Nets condemned Irving’s decision to promote the film Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America with a statement.
“The Brooklyn Nets strongly condemn and have no tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech,” the team wrote. “We believe that in these situations, our first action must be open, honest dialogue. We thank those, including the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), who have been supportive during this time.”
Brooklyn owner Joe Tsai followed up the team statement with one of his own, saying that the situation is “bigger than basketball.”
“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-Semitic disinformation,” Tsai tweeted. “I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion.”
An article published by Rolling Stone earlier on Friday first drew awareness to Irving’s promotion of the film, which the magazine says is “stuffed with antisemitic tropes.” The movie is based off of a 2015 book with the same title.
The Nets guard tweeted out a link to the film’s Amazon page on Thursday and the tweet remains up as of Saturday morning, even after Irving commented on the matter.
The NBA issued a statement condemning hate speech, presumably in reaction to the Irving situation.
“Hate speech of any kind is unacceptable and runs counter to the NBA’s values of equality, inclusion and respect,” the statement reads. “We believe we all have a role to play in ensuring such words or ideas, including antisemitic ones, are challenged and refuted and we will continue working with all members of the NBA community to ensure that everyone understands the impact of their words and actions.”
