New York Post

Irving raises eyebrows with tweet to controvers­ial book

- By BRIAN LEWIS and BRIAN WACKER

Kyrie Irving has put himself in the middle of another controvers­y.

The Nets star raised eyebrows Thursday with a tweet and Instagram story that included an Amazon page marketing — and tacitly endorsing — a 2018 film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” that has been described as filled with anti-Semitic disinforma­tion.

The film is based on a 2015 book by the same name.

Rolling Stone called the film and book “venomously anti-Semitic,” citing statements within claiming “many famous high-ranking Jews” have “admitted” to “worship[ing] Satan or Lucifer.”

A Nets spokespers­on told The Post: “The Brooklyn Nets strongly condemn and have no tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech. We believe that in these situations, our first action must be open, honest dialogue. We thank those, including the ADL [Anti-Defamation League], who have been supportive during this time.”

Later in the night, Nets owner Joe Tsai weighed in on Twitter.

“I’m disappoint­ed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinforma­tion,” Tsai tweeted. “I want to sit down and make sure he understand­s this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion.

“This is bigger than basketball.”

The descriptio­n of the film on Amazon says the movie “uncovers the true identity of the Children of Israel by proving the true ethnicity of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Sons of Ham, Shem & Japheth. Find out what Islam, Judaism and Christiani­ty has covered up for centuries in regards to the true biblical identity of the so-called Negro in this movie packed with tons of research.”

A similar descriptio­n of the book, as noted by Rolling Stone, reads: “Since the European and Arab slave traders stepped foot into Africa, blacks have been told lies about their heritage.”

Both suggest “Hebrews to Negroes” espouse ideas in line with extreme factions of the Black Hebrew Israelites, which have a long history of misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophob­ia, and especially antisemiti­sm, Blistein wrote. The book’s fourth chapter, titled “When Did Racism Towards Blacks Start?” also starts by falsely suggesting that anti-black racism can be traced back to key Jewish texts.

There are other passages throughout the book that also have been proven false, according to the Rolling Stone article.

This is only the latest instance of Irving having thrust himself into controvers­ial subject matter.

In September, Irving shared on his Instagram a 2002 conspiracy video of Alex Jones decrying a “New World Order.”

Last season, Irving also found himself embroiled over his COVID-19 vaccine skepticism, which cost him much of his season with the team. And in 2018, Irving, then on the Celtics, claimed the Earth is flat before later apologizin­g.

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