Kyrie Irving's 'sorry' to Jews shows how celebrity apologies have become meaningless
After refusing to denounce an antisemitic film, the Nets player offered up an apology to Jewish communities only after he was suspended indefinitely.
Thursday night, after years of causing controversy, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving issued a rare apology. It wasn’t about his history of endorsing anti-vaccine misinformation or for the time he shared a video containing a rant from noted conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
No, Irving’s apology — a block of text posted alongside a black square on Instagram — stemmed from a more recent controversy, in which he was accused of promoting antisemitism after he tweeted a link to the Amazon page for “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” It’s a 2018 documentary that, among other things, claims that Jewish people worship Satan, insists that Jews controlled the Atlantic slave trade and currently control the media, and denies that the Holocaust ever happened.
Are we really supposed to believe that it’s a genuine change of heart and not a response to a pressure campaign from his employers?
After days of defending his choice to share the film with his nearly 5 million followers and refusing to denounce antisemitism unequivocally, Irving finally offered up a sop “[t]o All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post.” In his apology, he noted that he stands against antisemitism and wishes that his original post about “Hebrews to Negroes” had been more upfront about what he does, and doesn’t, find valuable about the Black Hebrew Israelite doctrine outlined within the film.
Like most Instagram apologies, Irving’s felt a bit perfunctory and performative, not least because it came the same day he was suspended indefinitely by the Nets over the controversy. Are we really supposed to believe that Irving underwent such a massive amount of personal growth in the span of hours? Are we really supposed to believe that it’s a genuine change of heart and not a response to a pressure campaign from his employers? And given how limited in scope the apology is — expressing regret for giving off the appearance of antisemitism while only vaguely gesturing to the specifics of why people might think that he’s antisemitic — are we really supposed to believe he has a nuanced understanding of why people are angry?
Rating: 5