Kyrie Irving’s Nike deal is officially over, weeks after the NBA star promoted an Antisemitic documentary on his official social media handle.
Kyrie Irving’s Nike deal was ended officially by the sporting giant, in a statement issued on Monday, explaining the decision to sever its relationship with Kyrie, which comes a month after the brand first suspended their partnership and canceled a forthcoming shoe line after he promoted an antisemitic documentary on social media.
“Kyrie Irving is no longer a Nike athlete,” Nike said in a statement. “The sides have parted ways one month after Nike suspended its relationship with the Nets star. Irving has one of the most popular signature shoes in the NBA and is now a sneaker-free agent.”
The basketball player’s rep put out her own statement saying this about Kyrie Irving’s Nike deal, “We have mutually decided to part ways and wish Nike the best in their future endeavours.”
Nike originally suspended Kyrie on Nov. 4 saying in part at the time, “At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism. We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
The following week, Nike co-founder Phil Knight told CNBC his company’s relationship with Kyrie was likely over.
“Kyrie stepped over the line. It’s kind of that simple,” he said during the Nov. 10 interview. “He made some statements that we just can’t abide by and that’s why we ended the relationship. And I was fine with that.”
On Nov. 3, the Brooklyn Nets announced that Kyrie was suspended from the team without pay after he did not take a stance to condemn antisemitism. According to NBC News, in a since-deleted tweet, the 30-year-old posted a link to 2018 movie Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America that contained rhetoric against Jewish people.
“Over the last several days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate,” the team said in a statement.
“We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance.”
That same day, Kyrie posted a since-deleted apology to Instagram, noting that he was “deeply sorry” for the post.
“While doing research on YHWH, I posted a Documentary that contained some false anti-Semitic statements, narratives, and language that were untrue and offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion, and I take full accountability and responsibly for my actions,” his message began.
“I am grateful to have a big platform to share knowledge and I want to move forward by having an open dialogue to learn more and grow from this.”
He went on to apologize to those hurt by his tweet, explaining that he hadn’t intended to promote hateful rhetoric.
“I want to clarify any confusion on where I stand fighting against Anti- semticism [sic] by apologizing for posting the documentary without context and a factual explanation outlining the specific beliefs in the Documentary I agreed with and disagreed with,” he continued.
“I am learning from this unfortunate event and hope we can find understanding between us all. I am no different than any other human being. I am a seeker of truth and knowledge, and I know who I Am.”
Following a five game suspension, Kyrie was reinstated onto the Nets roster on Nov. 20.