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- The Brooklyn Nets are condemning Kyrie Irving for promoting antisemitic content on Twitter.
- The participant shared a hyperlink to a 2018 film known as “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” known for its extremist content.
- “I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation,” Nets proprietor Joe Tsai stated in an announcement.
Brooklyn Nets participant Kyrie Irving is as soon as once more drawing ire, this time for sharing a hyperlink to an antisemitic guide and film on Twitter.
Irving — who made headlines final 12 months after he was benched for dwelling video games after refusing to get vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19, in violation of New York City’s mandates — shared a tweet on Thursday linking to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” on Amazon Prime.
As first detailed in Rolling Stone by Jon Blistein, the 2018 film — directed by Ronald Dalton, Jr. and based mostly on his guide of the identical title — options a number of antisemitic tropes, together with “more extreme factions of the Black Hebrew Israelites, which have a long history of misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and especially antisemitism.”
Blistein writes that some Black Hebrew Israelites are known for referring to European Jews as the “synagogue of Satan,” and promote the perception that Jews are accountable for slavery. Dalton’s film and guide point out “Jewish slave ships that brought our West African negro or Bantu ancestors to slave ports owned by [Jews],” Rolling Stone reported.
Brooklyn Nets proprietor Joe Tsai denounced Irving’s conduct in a tweet on Friday.
“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation,” Tsai wrote. “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. This is bigger than basketball.”
His remarks got here shortly after the Nets group shared its personal assertion, additionally decrying Irving’s tweet.
“The Brooklyn Nets strongly condemn and have no tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech,” the assertion reads. “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.”
The incident marks the newest in a sequence of controversies involving Irving. In addition to his stanch anti-vaccination sentiments, the participant has referred to himself as a “conspiracy theorist,” according to ESPN.
Earlier this 12 months, Irving reposted alt-right chief Alex Jones’ “New World Order” conspiracy — that a corporation is “releasing diseases and viruses and plagues upon us.” He previously apologized for endorsing “Flat Earth theory” in 2018.
