Nike announced Friday that it is pausing its relationship with Nets star Kyrie Irving, effective immediately.
The sportswear giant’s decision comes after Irving doubled down on his comments for the promotion of an antisemitic film and book entitled Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America on social media last week despite saying he “meant no disrespect” by it.
An article published by Rolling Stone first noted Irving’s promotion of the 2018 movie, one based off Ronald Dalton’s 2015 book that is “stuffed with antisemitic tropes.”
Irving recently apologized for his promotion of the film and book, saying he takes “full accountability and responsibly for [his] actions,” and that he “wants to move forward by having an open dialogue to learn more and grow from this.