Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets brings the ball up the court during the fourth quarter of the game against the Chicago Bulls at Barclays Center on November 01, 2022 in New York City.
Dustin Satloff | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is speaking out against Kyrie Irving after the Brooklyn Nets star posted a link to a film containing offensive antisemitic material.
In a statement issued Thursday, Silver called the decision to post the video “reckless” and said he will be meeting with Irving in person next week to discuss the situation.
“While we appreciate the fact that he agreed to work with the Brooklyn Nets and the Anti-Defamation League to combat antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, I am disappointed that he has not offered an unqualified apology and more specifically denounced the vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize,” Silver’s statement said.
In an Oct. 27 tweet, Irving posted a link to the film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake up Black America,” which promotes antisemitism and disinformation. The post has since been removed.
On Wednesday night, Irving and the Nets issued a joint statement following a growing backlash.
“I oppose all forms of hatred and oppression and stand strong with communities that are marginalized and impacted everyday,” Irving said. “I am aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community and I take responsibility.”
The team and Irving agreed to donate $500,000 toward organizations that work toward eradicating hate and intolerance and said they will also work with the Anti-Defamation League.
“The events in the past week, have sparked many emotions within the Nets organization, our Brooklyn community and the nation,” the Nets said in their statement. “The public discourse that has followed has brought great awareness to the challenges we face as a society when it comes to hate and hate speech.”
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told CNBC’s Squawk Box that antisemitic hate speech is at all time highs.
For example, multiple public companies including Adidas, Gap and Balenciaga recently broke ties with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after the rapper’s antisemitic remarks.
And after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, a group of online extremists have been posting hateful messages targeted towards Jewish people. Musk has touted free speech on the platform and pushed for looser content rules.
“This is really problematic and it has real world consequences,” Greenblatt said.
