Kyrie Irving continues to deal with the fallout of sharing a controversial film with antisemitic messages on social media. One day after the Brooklyn Nets announced that Irving had been suspended, Nike announced that it was suspending its relationship with the controversial star.
Nike released a statement on Friday night, announcing the suspension of its relationship with Irving. It was shared by Sara Eisen of CNBC.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any sort of antisemitism. To that end, we’ve made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8. We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
Breaking: Nike suspends Kyrie relationship. Postpones launch of Kyrie 8. (Kyrie is in the top 5 best sellers for Nike, but nowhere near Jordan, Lebron etc) pic.twitter.com/ssrmkGnoBA
— Sara Eisen (@SaraEisen) November 5, 2022
This decision from Nike drew two common reactions. One was support. But as was the case with his suspension from the Nets, the timing was questioned.
Good move @nike. https://t.co/wY4JVzgoqy
— 𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒕 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒌 🐦⬛🏈🇬🇪🇺🇦🇱🇻 (@CarasikS) November 5, 2022
the nets/nike went from ambiguously condemning anti-semitism to actually mentioning kyrie by name—and the latter comes *after* he officially apologized. discussions behind the scenes must be going really well. https://t.co/lvCfltxwOk
— Dan Favale (@danfavale) November 5, 2022
So, Nike issued a statement condemning Kyrie on Monday (without naming him, of course) but waited until after he "apologized" to suspend their relationship with him? https://t.co/rfoLyX1exr
— Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) November 5, 2022
BOOM! I literally tweeted imma burn my @nikebasketball Kyrie’s this week. https://t.co/work6UFGzA
— ((( Rebecca ))) 🍀 🏀 (@dorothyofisrael) November 5, 2022
The timing is unusual. Nike had previously released a statement that while likely referring to Irving, didn’t mention him by name. Now, a day after Irving was suspended by his team and offered an apology (albeit far too late), Nike decided to suspend him.
So, the timing is certainly questionable. Regardless of that, though, it is done. And Irving is dealing with not only terrible public relations but also stands to lose a lot of money in the fallout of this.
Kyrie’s fall with be fast and expensive. https://t.co/xosnkEinta
— John Dissauer (@johndissauer) November 5, 2022
[Sara Eisen on Twitter]
