Kyrie Irving got into a heated back-and-forth with reporters on Saturday night about the Brooklyn Nets star’s recent antisemitic posts on social media.
On Thursday, Kyrie sparked backlash after posting a link on social media for the documentary Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, a 2018 film that focuses on antisemitic tropes, including claims that “many famous high-ranking Jews have admitted to worship[ing] Satan or Lucifer.”
When asked about the backlash, Irving downplayed his actions, claiming that he wasn’t promoting anything.
“Can you please stop calling it a promotion? What am I promoting?” he said. “Let’s move on. Let’s move on. Let’s move on, don’t dehumanize me up here.”
Kyrie continued, “I can post whatever I want, so say that, and shut it down and move on to the next question. I don’t have to understand anything from you.”
As he walked out of the press conference, Irving reportedly said, “Wish you would feel the same about Black reproductive rights, about the things that actually matter, instead of what I’m posting. Fix your life, bro.”
Kyrie’s comments arrive a day after Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai hopped on Twitter to condemn Irving’s actions.
“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-Semitic disinformation,” Tsai tweeted. “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.
In another tweet, the Nets owner wrote, “This is bigger than basketball.”
