Kyrie Irving Suspended Over Controversial Tweet After Donating Half a Million

The Brooklyn Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving for not disavowing antisemitism. Irving had however donated half a million dollars to groups to fight hate.

In a statement, Irving said, “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.”

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. 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.”

After the statement and the donation, the Brooklyn Nets have suspended him. They issued a statement on their decision to suspend Irving:

“Over the last several days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate. We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance.

We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity – but failed – to clarify. 

Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets. We have decided that Kyrie will serve a suspension without pay until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct and the suspension period served is no less than five games.”

Statement from the Brooklyn Nets pic.twitter.com/699px8XYpx

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) November 4, 2022

The suspension will last at least five games and Irving will have to satisfy “a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct”.

Irving was suspended over sharing a documentary on his Twitter feed which he has since deleted. Rolling Stone said the film was “in line with more extreme factions of the Black Hebrew Israelites, which have a long history of misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and especially antisemitism.”

Kanye West has also recently come under fire for commercial comments he has made recently as well, currently West is showing support for Irving.