Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic with a Jewish streamer?
The Rams’ Puka Nacua and the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts both found themselves in hot water after spending time with Adin Ross
Jewish streamer Adin Ross (center) courts controversy with candor. But his celebrity guests are often held accountable to a higher standard. Photo by Simone Joyner/Getty Images
By Louis Keene December 18, 2025
A football star apologized Thursday for an antisemitic gesture he mimicked on a livestream earlier this week. And an apology from a baseball star for saying Jewish people are typically hairy may be forthcoming.
What both incidents had in common: They occurred when the athletes were hanging out with controversial Jewish streamer Adin Ross.
Puka Nacua, a Los Angeles Rams wide receiver, made the gesture Tuesday at Ross’s behest. The video game streamer taught Nacua the pose known as the “covetous Jew” — it involves lowering the head into the shoulders while rubbing a hand over a fist — and suggested he incorporate it into his touchdown celebration.
The next day, a shirtless Ross asked Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts — who, like Nacua, is widely regarded as one of the top players in his sport — if he was hairy.
“Yeah, you are,” said Betts, himself a podcaster and famously good-natured. “It’s all right, though. Like, typically, you know, people like yourself are hairy.”
Ross replied that he was “Jewish and Italian.”
“That’s what I’m saying,” Betts said. “Jewish people typically are — you know what I’m saying?”
Off-color moments are familiar territory for Ross, 25, who was banned from the streaming platform Twitch for more than two years due to his failure to moderate the torrent of racist and antisemitic comments in his stream’s live chat. He has hosted avowed antisemite Nick Fuentes several times on his stream; according to SBNation’s James Dator, “Ross has a reputation for allowing antisemitism on his show, often done under the guise of ‘joking.’” The sports blog Defector said Ross’ “whole brand is built around moronic provocation.”
In spite of the controversy Ross frequently elicits — or perhaps because they know someone who once purchased a Cybertruck for President Donald Trump is unlikely to be offended by political incorrectness — the celebrities who join his stream tend to let their guard down around him, bantering like old friends and gradually revealing their worldview. And if a Jewish person is telling you to do a celebration, can the celebration really be antisemitic? The answer may have surprised Nacua.
Yet some of those guests are beholden to a higher standard of speech than Ross, who is reportedly paid in the five figures hourly by the no-holds-barred streaming platform Kick. And when you say something on a livestream, the stream’s host isn’t the only person who can get offended. Betts and Nacua might have learned this lesson from previous guest Sauce Gardner, a cornerback for the Indianapolis Colts, who told Ross in 2024 that “y’all run the world.” Gardner later apologized.
On Thursday, after Nacua’s gesture was widely condemned online and drew responses from the NFL and the Rams, the receiver — currently second in the NFL in receiving yards — released a statement.
“When I appeared the other day on a social media livestream, it was suggested to me to perform a specific movement as part of my next touchdown celebration,” reads the statement, which featured the branding of Stand Up To Jewish Hate, an organization founded by Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots. “At the time, I had no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetuated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people.”
“I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry or hate of another group of people,” he added.
Neither the Rams nor the NFL said if Nacua would face consequences for the incident in separate statements Thursday.
“The NFL strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and derogatory behavior directed towards any group or individual,” the league said in a statement Thursday. “The continuing rise of antisemitism must be addressed across the world, and the NFL will continue to stand with our partners in this fight. Hatred has no place in our sport or society.”
The Rams wrote, “There is no place in this world for Antisemitism as well as other forms of prejudice or hostility towards the Jewish people and people of any religion, ethnicity, or race.”
Nacua, who finished second in 2023 voting for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, received backlash over several statements he made during the livestream. He accused referees of bias and making calls for clout, saying “These guys are lawyers. They want to be on TV, too.” He also claimed that “concussions are all in your head, you just can’t think about it.”
If Betts regrets on his own statement, he hasn’t said so publicly. Nor has his employer, a team famous for fielding Jewish stars like Sandy Koufax. The Forward has reached out to Betts’ agency and the Dodgers for comment.
