NEW YORK — Less than 40 minutes after the NBA released a statement from commissioner Adam Silver expressing disappointment that Kyrie Irving did not apologize for releasing a film filled with “deeply offensive anti-Semitic material” and “harmful and harmful content.” , the Brooklyn Nets guard. again he refused to say he was sorry.
Irving posted the link to “Hebrews To Negroes: Wake Up Black America” ​​last Thursday. A week later, when asked if he regretted the hurt his post caused people, he said: “I take responsibility for posting that. Some things that were questionable in there, untrue. Like I said the first time when guys asked me when I was sitting on that stage, I don’t believe everything that everybody posts. It’s a documentary, so I take responsibility.” The follow-up question, in light of the NBA’s press release: Was his joint statement with the Nets and the Anti-Defamation League intended to constitute an apology, or is he not apologizing? “I didn’t mean to cause any harm,” Irving said. “I’m not the one who made a documentary.” Asked directly if he has anti-Semitic beliefs, Irving said: “Again, I’ll repeat, I don’t know how the label is justified because you’re asking me the same questions over and over again. But this is not going to turn into a spin cycle, questions upon questions. You I said how I felt. I respect all walks of life and I embrace all walks of life. That’s where I sit.” Pressed for a yes or no answer, Irving said, “I can’t be anti-Semitic if I know where I come from.” Asked to elaborate, he repeated: “I can’t be anti-Semitic if I know where I come from.” Irving did not directly address whether or not he was surprised that people were hurt by his social media posts. “I think I can ask a better question,” he said. “Where were you when I was a child discovering that 300 million of my ancestors were buried in America? Where were you asking the same questions when I was a child concerned with learning about the traumatic events of my family history? And what I am proud to be from.”
Later in the same response, Irving said, “I’m not here to compare anyone’s atrocities. Or the tragic events that their families have faced over the generations. I’m here to continue to expose things that our world continues to put in the dark. I’m a light. I’m a beacon of light. That’s what I’m here to do. You guys ask me questions about basketball, I give you my expertise. You guys ask me about other things, I give you my opinion and I mean it whatever you think perception or deception is.’
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Irving, who hadn’t spoken to reporters since getting into a fight with one after a game against the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 29, snapped that “he was here answering questions about whether or not I’m sorry for something I did.” I didn’t create, and it was something that I shared and I tell everyone that I take responsibility.”
The film released by Irving is full of anti-Semitic tropes, including a bogus quote stating, “The Jews have created five big lies that operate to conceal their nature and protect their status and power,” including “That 6 million people were killed in a holocaust during World War II.”
“These lies are unfortunate,” Irving said. “And it’s not that I don’t believe in the Holocaust. I never said that. I never said that. It never came out of my mouth. I never tweeted it. I never liked anything like that. So The Holocaust itself is a which means something to a large group of people who suffered something that could have been avoided.” Irving did not fully denounce the film, which he said “perhaps had some unfortunate lies.” Asked what exactly it was about the film that he didn’t believe, he said: “I think some of the criticism of the Jewish faith and the community, for sure. Some points in there were unfortunate.” Before the joint statement was released, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reported that Irving had sent his father and stepmother/agent to meet with the Anti-Defamation League. Asked if he had personally met with the ADL, Irving said, “I was informed that they wanted to have a meeting and we handled it.”
A Nets official then ended the media altercation and Irving walked away, ignoring a reporter who asked him for clarification.