Kyrie Irving has defended posting a film with antisemitic content on his social media, even as the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA released statements distancing themselves from it.
In a back and forth with reporters after the Nets’ 125-116 loss to the Indiana Pacers, Irving said: “We’re in 2022, it’s on Amazon, public platform. Whether you want to go watch it is up to you. There’s things being posted every day. I am no different than the next human being, so don’t treat me any different.
“You guys come in here and make up this powerful influence that I have over…”You, you cannot post that? Why not? Why not? Everybody post everything else. You saw the word n****r going up on Twitter, right? I don’t hear uproar on that.
“I’m not here to be divisive on what’ s going on on this or that, I’m not comparing Jews to Blacks. I’m not comparing White to Black; I’m not doing that. That conversation is dismissive, and it constantly revolves around the rhetoric of who are the chosen people of God.
“And I’m not here to argue over a person, or culture, or religion on what they believe. Nah, This is what is here. It’s on a public platform. Did I do anything illegal?
Six weeks earlier, Irving posted a 20-year-old clip of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones yammering about the “New World Order.”
When asked about that, he said: “That was a few weeks ago, I do not stand with Alex Jones’s position, narrative, court case that he had with Sandy Hook, or any of the kids that felt like they had to relive trauma or parents that had to relive trauma or to be dismissive to all the lives that were lost during that tragic event.
“My post was a post from Alex Jones that he did in the early nineties or late nineties about secret societies in America of a cult. And it’s true.”
As Irving walked out of the interview room, he said to the reporter, “I wish we cared more about Black reproductive rights and all the things that actually matter than what I’m posting. Change your life, bro.”
Earlier, during first quarter of the game, Richard Jefferson and Ryan Ruocco took nearly three minutes out of play-by-play coverage to discuss Irving’s promotion of an antisemitic movie and book. For RJ, it wasn’t just the promotion of the video on Tweet and on Instagram, but also Irving’s reposting of conspiracist Alex Jones material over the summer.
