The Anti-Defamation League rejected Kyrie Irving’s $500,000 donation Thursday, with the group’s CEO saying, “it’s clear that Kyrie feels no accountability for his actions.”
Irving has been under fire since last week, when he shared — and then refused to delete — a social media share of a 2018 film that’s widely considered to be antisemitic. Critics say Irving compounded the problem by not offering an apology.
Irving, the Nets and the ADL issued a joint statement Wednesday saying that the player and team were each donating $500,000 to the organization. But ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said Thursday that he had a change of heart after watching Irving’s media conference Thursday, in which the player refused to say he was sorry and refused to acknowledge the Holocaust happened, among other issues.
Kyrie Irving says he didn't mean to cause any harm in sharing a post to a film that has been described as anti-Semitic:
"I'm not the one that made the documentary" pic.twitter.com/NkRvZDoqbS
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) November 3, 2022
“We were optimistic but after watching the debacle of a press conference, it’s clear that Kyrie feels no accountability for his actions,” Greenblatt said (via Ian Begley). “ADL cannot in good conscience accept (the donation).”
The Nets were also dismayed by Irving’s behavior at the media conference, and later announced the team had suspended Irving for at least five games.
Greenblatt applauded Irving’s suspension, saying he had “failed at almost every step along the way” to apologize and condemn antisemitism.
ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt also stated via Twitter that Irving ‘failed at almost every step along the way’ to apologize and condemn antisemitism. He commends the Nets for suspending Irving: pic.twitter.com/DsEbLScTtu
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 4, 2022
