Kyrie Irving: Nike suspend deal with Brooklyn Nets guard after antisemitic posts
Kyrie Irving has apologised for promoting a project he said contained "false anti-semitic statements", but not soon enough to stop Nike from suspending ties with him; Nike said in a statement: "We believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism"
Saturday 5 November 2022 12:31, UK
Nike have announced that it has suspended its relationship with Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving and cancelled its next Irving-branded shoe release in the aftermath of his promotion of an anti-semitic documentary.
The Nets have suspended Irving for at least five games after he stopped short of fully disavowing the documentary on two occasions.
The Nets had said in a statement on Thursday: "We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity but failed to clarify."
NBA commissioner Adam Silver also said he was "disappointed" at Irving's failure to offer an "unqualified apology".
Hours later, Irving did issue an apology for promoting a project he said contained "false anti-semitic statements." But the apology was not enough to stop Nike from suspending ties with him.
"At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism," Nike said in a statement. "To that end, we've made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8.
"We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone."
Several media outlets have reported Irving's shoe deal to be worth $11m. The Nets will also not pay him during his suspension.
Irving is on a $36.9m contract this season, after having earned nearly $195m in his previous 11 seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and the Nets, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
Irving has faced heavy criticism since posting a link on Twitter last week to a 2018 commentary and defending the post over the weekend. The seven-time All Star has since deleted the Twitter post.
Posting on Instagram on Thursday, he apologised to those "hurt from the hateful remarks made in the documentary," and said he took full responsibility for his decision to share the content with his followers.
Irving said the film "contained some false anti-Semitic statements, narratives, and language that were untrue and offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion."
"I want to clarify any confusion on where I stand fighting against anti-semitism by apologizing for posting the documentary without context and a factual explanation outlining the specific beliefs in the documentary I agreed with and disagreed with," Irving wrote.
Irving's suspension and apology follow a controversy generated by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who was suspended by social media platforms last month for posts that online users condemned as anti-Semitic.
Irving's social media posts are not the first time that he has courted controversy in the NBA. He played in just 29 of the Nets' 82 regular season games for the 2021-22 season after refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine despite a mandate by the city of New York.
