(JNS) Nike officially cut ties with NBA player Kryie Irving this week, following a scandal in which the Brooklyn Nets star shared antisemitic content on social media and then failed to repudiate Jew-hatred.
The decision comes one month after the sporting apparel giant suspended its agreement with Irving and announced the latest version of his sneakers, the Kyrie 8, would not be released.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism,” Nike said in a statement at the time.
Irving last month tweeted a link to the film “From Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America!”. The film castigates Jews as “Satanic” and falsely quotes Adolf Hitler stating that “the Negroes, they are the true Hebrews” and warning of a plan to move “false white Jews into a state of Israel.” It also llists five items it calls falsehoods spread by Jews, including that Jesus was a Jew and that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
Irving was suspended by the Nets for eight games after he “refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs,” before eventually apologizing “deeply” and being reinstated.
“I don’t have hate in my heart for the Jewish people or anyone that identifies as a Jew,” Irving said towards the end of his suspension.