Sportwear company announces it will no longer work with Brooklyn Nets star in aftermath of his sharing link to antisemitic doc.
Nike announced on Monday that it was severing ties with Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving. The move came several weeks after the company suspended its endorsement deal with Irving after he shared a link to an antisemitic documentary, Reuters reported.
Irving sparked fury after he posted a link to the 2018 documentary on Twitter in October. At first he defended the post, but he later deleted it and apologized.
The Nets suspended Irving at the start of November for a minimum of five games after he shared the link to the film, then refused to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic views.”
Speaking to SNY ahead of his expected return to the court, Irving said, “I really want to focus on the hurt that I caused or the impact that I made within the Jewish community. Putting some type of threat, or assumed threat, on the Jewish community.”
“I just want to apologize deeply for all my actions throughout the time that it’s been since the post was first put up. I’ve had a lot of time to think. But my focus, initially, if I could do it over, would be to heal and repair a lot of my close relationships with my Jewish relatives, brothers and sisters,” he continued.
Nike canceled its upcoming Irving signature shoes in November. The deal was reported to be worth as much as $11 million.
Source: Arutz 7