Already bogged down sportingly after a complicated start to the season with the Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie Irving has again sparked controversy in recent days by relaying, Thursday on Twitter, a film by Ronald Dalton Jr, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” dating of 2018, the content of which is considered anti-Semitic. Present at a press conference on Sunday, after another defeat for the Nets (their 5th in 6 games), the star leader held a relatively tense exchange with the press.
“We are in 2022, it is on Amazon, a public platform. It’s up to you if you want to go watch it, ”he said. Before continuing: “This conversation is contemptuous, and it constantly revolves around the rhetoric of who are God’s chosen people. And I’m not here to argue any person, culture or religion about what they believe. No, that’s what’s here. It’s on a public platform. Did I do something illegal? »
“I am an OMNIST and I did not mean to disrespect anyone’s religious beliefs. The label “anti-Semitic” that is stuck on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or the truth in which I live every day. I am open and I want to learn from all walks of life and all religions, ”he explained on Twitter, trying to minimize the emerging controversy.
One more plot
Known for his antivax positions (he had missed a number of games because of his non-vaccination last season) and conspiracies (he defends the thesis that the Earth would be flat), Kyrie Irving went even further by justifying his post Twitter by arguments once again more than dubious.
“My post was a book by Alex Jones (an American conspirator recently fined $1 billion for denying the reality of the Sandy Hook drama) that he did in the early 90s or late 1990s. 90s about America’s secret societies of a cult. And it is the truth. So I didn’t identify with anything, I wasn’t campaigning for Alex Jones or anything. I was just there to post,” he explained.
In content, Ronald Dalton Jr’s film is thus based on a book by Alex Jones which promotes many anti-Semitic theses. Certain personalities of the Jewish faith would, for example, according to the book, have admitted to having worshiped Satan or Lucifer. There is also talk of news media controlled by Jewish people who are allegedly responsible for the slave trade.
The Nets “strongly condemn”
Faced with the outcry, the management of the Nets wanted to react: “The Brooklyn Nets strongly condemn and have no tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech. We believe that in these situations, our first action should be open and honest dialogue. We thank those, including the ADL (a non-governmental organization whose goal is to support Jews against all forms of anti-Semitism), who have supported us. »
The boss of the Nets himself, Joe Tsai, said he was “disappointed” by his player. “I want to sit down with him and make sure he understands that it’s hurtful to all of us, and that as a man of faith, it’s wrong to promote hate based on race, ‘ethnicity or religion,’ he said on Twitter.
For his part, Kyrie Irving continues to ensure that he does not promote anything by relaying a film on Twitter in this way: “Can you please stop calling it a promotion? What am I promoting? “, he retorted to an American journalist who tried to confront him on this point. The exchange ended with “Next question, next question…” from the leader, who stuck to his guns.
An echo of Kanye West
This case mainly echoes another controversy emanating from rapper Kanye West, who is now called “Ye” and says he has bipolar disorder. The American singer was banned from Twitter and Instagram a few weeks ago for posting several tweets going against people of the Jewish faith.
Recently, Kanye West appeared at a fashion show in Paris with a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt, referring to the slogan “Black Lives Matter” for the fight against racism in the United States.