Nets star Kyrie Irving is no stranger to controversy, and he doesn’t appear willing to bend amid more turbulence.
In spite of heavy criticism, Irving doubled down in defense of his recent tweet promoting an antisemitic film Saturday night following his team’s 125-116 home loss to the Pacers.
“Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody?” Irving asked reporters in regard to the tweet. “Did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people?”
The press conference was tense at times with a dismissive Irving taking jabs at reporters, saying he doesn’t “expect understanding from a media conglomerate group.”
“I’m not going to stand down on anything I believe in,” Irving said. “I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.”
That statement echoed his tweet from earlier in the day, when he stood by his decision to promote the controversial film Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America. In that tweet defending himself, he said in part, “The ‘Anti-Semitic’ label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday.”
However, the Nets condemned his decision late Friday night, and team owner Joe Tsai followed it up with a statement of his own, expressing his disappointment in Irving’s stance. He tweeted, in part, “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.”
The NBA also released a statement in wake of the matter, condemning hate speech, although it did not specifically name Irving.
Nets coach Steve Nash addressed the situation ahead of Saturday’s game, but he did not go into details, saying only that the franchise “has spoken to Kyrie about it.”
Irving said he understands Tsai’s position but said he didn’t do anything harmful.
The tweet remains up as of Sunday morning.
Irving also was asked about his recent posts amplifying conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has been ordered to pay nearly $1 billion in damages after losing a lawsuit over his false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting was a hoax.
“That was a few weeks ago,” Irving said. “I do not stand with Alex Jones’ 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 ’90s or late ’90s about secret societies in America of cults, and it’s true. So I wasn’t identifying with anything … for Alex Jones, it’s just there to post.”
He added, “And it’s funny, it’s actually hilarious, because of all the things I posted that day, that was the one post that everyone chose to see.”
When pressed about whether sharing Jones’s messages equaled an endorsement, Irving said, “Don’t dehumanize me up here. I’m another human being. I can post whatever I want. So say that. So shut it down and move on to the next question.”
