NBA star Kyrie Irving seems to have gotten what he wanted, as Nike announced the suspension of their partnership deal over his antisemitism post.
According to the report by TMZ, the shoe giant announced Friday it was suspending its business relationship with the NBA star Kyrie Irving, explaining “At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism.”
Nike also says it will no longer launch the Kyrie 8 basketball shoe, adding “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
Kyrie’s faced a ton of backlash ever since tweeting out a link to an antisemitic film last week.
Nike is not the first to come down on Irving. The Nets announced Thursday they were suspending him at least 5 games after he refused to outright apologize for promoting the film. The Nets said Kyrie will not be allowed to play for the club again until he “satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct.”
The point guard finally issued a lengthy mea culpa on his social media after being suspended, but folks are questioning his sincerity.
Kyrie’s apology wasn’t enough to save his relationship with Nike, at least for now.