Kyrie Irving and Nets to donate $500K each to ‘eradicate hate’
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Kyrie Irving is taking responsibility for tweeting about an antisemitic movie. He pledged $500K to organizations that ‘work to eradicate hate and intolerance.’
Here is everything you need to know.
Kyrie Irving issues apology over antisemitic tweet
Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets along with the Anti-Defamation League released a joint statement to address the 30-year-old athlete’s antisemitic tweet.
In the statement, both the Nets and Irving pledge to donate $500,000 each to help ‘eradicate hate’ against the Jewish community.
Irving wrote, ‘I oppose all forms of hatred and oppression and stand strong with communities that are marginalized and impacted every day. I am aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community and I take responsibility.’
Two days after posting a link to an antisemitic film (that’s still up), here’s Kyrie Irving:
— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) October 30, 2022
– Claiming that posting a link to something isn’t promoting it 🤔
– Playing the victim
– Accusing a journalist of “dehumanizing” him by simply asking about itpic.twitter.com/qGdDVO7awA
Moreover, he continued, ‘I do not believe everything said in the documentary was true or reflects my morals and principles. I am a human being learning from all walks of life and I intend to do so with an open mind and a willingness to listen.’
The NBA player stated, ‘So from my family and I, we meant no harm to any one group, race or religion of people, and wish to only be a beacon of truth and light.’
Kyrie Irving shares a link to an antisemitic film
Kyrie Irving took to Twitter to share the link to Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America on 27th October.
However, Rolling Stone’s Jon Blistein described the ‘purported documentary’ to be filled with ‘misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and especially antisemitism.’
Regardless, Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai called out Irving the following day for supporting hate toward the Jewish.
He said, ‘I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us. As a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity, or religion.’
Besides that, he added, ‘This is bigger than basketball.’
Many people raised eyebrows at the NBA community after the NBA failed to take disciplinary action against Irving.
Moreover, Irving held a contentious postgame press conference on Sunday to address the situation.
He asked the reporters, ‘Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody, did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people?’
Irving went on to recall that he watched the antisemitic movie after googling the Hebrew translation of his name which translated to Yahweh.
