NBA Star Kyrie Irving Defends Posting Link to Antisemitic Film

[additional-authors]

Aaron Bandler

November 1, 2022

Kyrie Irving (Photo by Eric Drost, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Brooklyn Nets star point guard Kyrie Irving defended his social media post linking to an antisemitic film during a post-game press conference on the evening of October 29.

In a since-deleted tweet, Irving had linked to the movie “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” The movie, based on a book of the same name, is filled with “#antisemitic themes including those promoted by dangerous sects of the Black Hebrew Israelites movement,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted. ESPN Daily’s Pablo Torre tweeted that the beginning of the film in question shares a fake quote from Adolf Hitler that reads: “America has stolen the Jews. The Jewels of God. His Jewelry. The NEGROES. They are the TRUE HEBREWS. What a foolish move and a direct challenge to God. And they plan on moving these false white Jews to Israel.”

I started watching the movie Kyrie tweeted out to prepare for today's episode of @debatable. And if you were wondering exactly how insanely anti-Semitic it is, just know that they show this quote from "Adolph Hitler," as such: pic.twitter.com/1Z8bzKzFen

— Pablo Torre (@PabloTorre) October 31, 2022

So, to be extraordinarily clear here: the quote is (obviously!) fake. Hitler did NOT believe Black people are “The Jewels of God.” They spelled “Adolf” wrong. The citation itself is overflowing with brain-worms.

But this screenshot is *actually from the movie*. Which says a lot!

— Pablo Torre (@PabloTorre) October 31, 2022

Irving defended his post as simply linking to something on a “public platform” and that it had to do with him “living as a free Black man here in America, knowing the historical complexities for me to get here.” “I’m not going to stand down on anything that I believe in,” Irving said. “I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.”

Nets owner Joe Tsai tweeted the previous evening, “I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation. 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.”

I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation. 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.

— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) October 29, 2022

The NBA also said in a statement, “Hate speech of any kind is unacceptable and runs counter to the NBA’s values of equality, inclusion and respect. We believe we all have a role to play in ensuring words or ideas, including antisemitic ones, are challenged and refuted and we will continue working with all members of the NBA community to ensure that everyone understands the impact of their words and their actions.”