Kyrie Irving defends social media post for antisemitic movie, conspiracy theories

BROOKLYN — Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving doubled down on his promotion of an antisemitic documentary on social media following the Nets’ loss to the Pacers Saturday, In his first public comments since tweeting a link to the Amazon page of “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake up Black America,” Irving defended his stance, trying to downplay his status and influence as a professional athlete.

“We’re in 2022,” Irving, who has 17.5 million followers on Instagram and 4.5 million on Twitter, told reporters at his postgame news conference. “It’s on Amazon, public platform. Whether you want to go watch it is up to you. There’s things being posted every day. I am no different than the next human being, so don’t treat me any different.

“Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody? Did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people? So, out of all the judgment that people got from me posting, just, without talking to me, and then, I respect what (Nets owner Joe Tsai, who condemned Irving’s tweet) said, but there is a lot to do with the, not ego or how proud I am to be of African heritage, but also to be living as a free Black man here in America, knowing the historical complexities for me to get here. So, I’m not going to stand down on anything that I believe in. I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.”

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The film and 2014 book it's based on are filled with antisemitic disinformation, including accusations of Satan worshipping by large numbers of Jewish people.

During the six-minute news conference, which included several tense exchanges with media and was cut short by Nets PR, Irving said he discovered the documentary after typing “Yahweh,” his name translated into Hebrew, into the search bar on Amazon Prime.

“Went out and shared it on my platform,” he said. “That was my right.”

This isn’t the first time Irving has expressed controversial views. He was limited to 29 games last season because his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine made him ineligible to play in New York for much of the year. In September, he shared a video from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was recently ordered to pay families of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre $965 million after years of claiming the 2012 shooting was a hoax.

Irving said Saturday he didn’t support Jones’ peddling the myth that the victims of the tragedy were paid actors.

"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,” Irving said. “My post was a post from Alex Jones that he did in the early '90s or late '90s about secret societies in America of occults. And it's true.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kyrie Irving doubles down on tweet for antisemitic movie