Kyrie Irving says ‘I take responsibility’ for antisemitic tweet, will donate $500K to anti-hate causes
‘I do not believe everything said in the documentary was true,’ wrote the Brooklyn Nets star.
Kyrie Irving looks on from the bench during a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Oct. 31, 2022 (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
(JTA) — In a joint statement with the Brooklyn Nets and the Anti-Defamation League Wednesday night, Kyrie Irving said he took responsibility for his tweet last week promoting an antisemitic film.
He and the Nets will each donate $500,000 “toward causes and organizations that work to eradicate hate and intolerance in our communities,” and both will work with the ADL to “develop educational programming that is inclusive and will comprehensively combat all forms of antisemitism and bigotry.”
“I am aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community and I take responsibility,” Irving said in the statement. “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.”
Joint statement from Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Anti-Defamation League pic.twitter.com/5szamIClsh
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) November 2, 2022
The Nets had announced in a press conference Tuesday that the organization was taking advice from the ADL. “We need to educate ourselves, educate the whole group and get some direction,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “Seek from the experts, and the experts, one of them certainly is the ADL.”
In the week since Irving’s tweet — which he later deleted without additional comment — pressure has mounted for the team or the NBA to punish the All-Star, including Tuesday night from former star Charles Barkley, who specifically called out Jewish NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
“I think Adam should have suspended him. First of all, Adam’s Jewish. You can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion,” Barkley said, referencing Irving’s contract.
Jewish fans of the Nets, meanwhile, expressed trepidation about continuing to support the team without substantive consequences for their star guard. A group sat courtside Monday donning “Fight Antisemitism” T-shirts.
In Wednesday’s statement, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said the partnership will enable all involved parties to “open dialogue and increase understanding.”
The Nets also said they would continue to participate in the “Shine A Light” initiative with dozens of Jewish organizations to help combat antisemitism, and will host “community conversations” at the Barclays Center in partnership with the ADL and other national civil rights organizations.
Irving has previously courted controversy by reposting a video by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones about “a cabal of elites” working to “enslave the global populace,” refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine and claiming the Earth is flat.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
