Nets guard Kyrie Irving said he “meant no disrespect” when he promoted an antisemitic film and book on his social media accounts earlier this week.
“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.
