Calling Out Kyrie Irving's Hypocrisy

Irving should be forced to answer more questions. Does he believe the holocaust happened? Upon further reflection, would he like to offer an apology? Instead, he ducked the media Monday.

Late last week, Nets point guard Kyrie Irving tweeted a link to a movie called "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America."

As Rolling Stone first reported, the movie, which is based on a book by the same name, contains several antisemitic tropes. Early in the film, a narrator-less text appears on the screen stating: "The Jews have established five major falsehoods which work to conceal their nature and protect their status and power, to wit: 1) The Jews are "Israelites," and thus God's chosen people; 2) Jesus Christ was a Jew; 3) That 6 million people were killed in a holocaust during WWII; 4) That all races are equal, or that all are brothers; and 5) That the Jews are just another religious group." 

The movie later attributes a quote to Adolf Hitler proclaiming: "Because the white Jews know that the Negroes are the real children of Israel and to keep America's secret the Jews will blackmail America. They will extort America; their plan for world domination won't work if the Negroes know who they are." 

Irving confirmed Saturday night that he had, in fact, watched the movie he was promoting. 

Last month, Irving shared a video clip on his Instagram page from unhinged far-right media personality Alex Jones. In the 2002 Infowars video, Jones blusters on how "facts and common sense" prove that a secret society of worldwide elites is intent on taking over the planet. "There is a tyrannical organization calling itself the 'New World Order,' pushing for worldwide government," Jones says in the clip, that will release "diseases and viruses and plagues up on us, we basically get shoved into their system where human beings are absolutely worthless."

As I wrote the following day, the New World Order (NWO) conspiracy, which gained popularity in the early 1990s, posits that a cabal of elites secretly works in tandem to orchestrate global affairs to enslave populations worldwide. According to a published study by the Middlebury Institute, the rhetoric promulgated by backers of this conspiracy may "appear innocuous at first," but it "presents a real-world danger, as it promotes a fatalistic worldview for adherents, possibly inciting them to commit violence against communities, infrastructure, and individuals deemed complicit in the NWO's implementation. This cabal narrative is commonly associated with other anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that claim Jewish culpability, alleging that they are behind the orchestration of the NWO, leading to an increased danger toward Jewish communities."

In 2017, the Anti-Defamation League wrote that NWO conspiracists "commonly believe that hundreds of concentration camps have been built in the U.S., ready to house dissenters; that the government will declare martial law, possibly on a pretext such as responding to a terrorist attack; and that the government will engage in mass gun confiscations."

In addition to being the Brooklyn Nets starting point guard, Irving serves on the Executive Committee of the NBA Players Association.

I reached out directly to both the Nets organization, the NBA Players Association and Nike (one of Irving's primary sponsors) for an official comment but never heard back any of them. No media member covering the Nets asked Irving about his Jones post in the days and weeks that followed. 

However, once Rollings Stone's report went viral last week, the Nets and the NBA were forced to respond. Nets owner Joe Tsai and the NBA both released statements condemning Irving's actions. 

Then, following the Nets' loss to the Pacers Saturday night, Irving was confronted and asked to explain himself. For those interested, here's a link to the six-minute press conference. 

Not only did Irving refuse to apologize, but he also doubled down on the shameful, ignorant conspiracy theories he chose to traffic. "I'm not going to stand down on anything that I believe in," Irving said. "I'm only going to get stronger because I'm not alone. I have a whole army around me."

Many others have pointed out why Irving's posts and words are so offensive. However, I wanted to highlight Irving's ridiculous hypocrisy throughout his brief press conference. In less than six minutes, he contradicts himself repeatedly. 

* In his answer to the first question, Irving states: "I'm in a unique position to have a level of influence on my community." Then, less than a later, Irving says: "I am no different than any other human being… You guys come in here and make up this powerful influence I have."

* At the three-minute mark of his press conference, Irving declares, "I am no different than any other human being. Don't treat me any different." At the four-minute mark, referencing his millions of fans and followers on social media and the influence he wields, Irving says: "I have a whole army around me."

* At one point, Kyrie condemns the media for criticizing him without allowing him to explain the rationale behind his posts. Don't pass judgemnet "without talking to me," Irving says. Yet, on Saturday night, before abruptly ending the presser by walking off the dais, Irving refused to take additional questions and shouted down a reporter seeking to understand precisely what Kyrie hoped to communicate via his cryptic post. I waited until today to write about the topic because I was genuinely curious about what Irving would say on Monday. However, following the Nets' victory over Indiana on Monday night, Irving ducked the media altogether and did not answer a single question from reporters. 

Irving should be forced to answer more questions. Does he believe the holocaust happened? Upon further reflection, would he like to offer an apology? Instead, he says nothing. 

I don't expect a drastic change in Irving's approach going forward, considering his declaration that he is "not going to stand down on anything" he believes in. "I'm only going to get stronger because I'm not alone," Irving claimed. 

For those familiar with the "Backfire Effect," this reaction isn't surprising. The backfire effect is a "cognitive bias that causes people who encounter evidence that challenges their beliefs to reject that evidence and to strengthen their support of their original stance. Essentially, the backfire effect means that showing people evidence which proves that they are wrong is often ineffective and can end up backfiring, by causing them to support their original stance more strongly than they previously did." Sadly, we see that quite often nowadays. 

Lastly, it's worth noting (while entirely unsurprising) that many of the same folks who demanded Colin Kaepernick be kicked out of the NFL and said LeBron James should just "shut up and dribble" are now vigorously defending Kyrie Irving and his first amendment rights. Wonder why that might be…