There has been a storm surrounding Kyrie Irving this past week.
It started when he shared a link on Twitter to a movie based on a book with anti-Semitic content. Irving was criticized but defended his right to share what he wanted. However, he removed the post after a few days.
On Wednesday, a joint statement came from Irving, the Brooklyn Nets and the civil rights organization ADL that the basketball team and Kyrie Irving are each donating $500,000 to groups that work against hate crimes. In the statement, Irving also apologizes for the “negative effects” his post caused.
He was later asked if he held anti-Semitic beliefs.
— I cannot be anti-Semitic if I know where I come from, Irving replied.
That response prompted ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to react. “The answer to the question ‘Do you have any anti-Semitic views’ is always ‘NO’ without a doubt,” he writes on Twitter.
Greenblatt further writes that the ADL cannot in good conscience accept Irving’s gift.
It is not the first time that Irving has shared controversial opinions and last year Irving was stopped from playing when he refused to be vaccinated against covid-19. He has previously, for example, also been punished for refusing to speak to journalists in connection with matches.