Carly Intrabartolo ’25
Nets star Kyrie Irving has faced consequences stemming from perceived anti-Semitic actions. It started when Irving posted an anti-Semitic movie on his social media, and he was immediately condemned for doing so. While awaiting a response from him, many in the media labeled him an anti-Semite, and when asked why he did not initially state that he was not an anti-Semite, he unequivocally stated he had no hatred for the Jewish people, and in fact that he was shocked when he was asked that.
In response to his actions, Kyrie was suspended for eight games as a result of not denouncing the movie. He was immediately suspended with no hearings. Now, we don’t have to agree with Kyrie's post, however we can condemn the punishment. Many people do, considering it is his right to post what he wants on his own page. In America people enjoy freedoms, particularly freedom of speech. But although you can practice your freedom of speech, you have to understand that there are also consequences for what you say, especially when people don’t agree with it and find it hateful
With that, if you insult a certain group of people, however inadvertently, you learn that you should be careful with what you say and what you put out for others to see. But what about the people that don’t have the kind of power to affect this sort of change? Could this be what Kyrie was alluding to and what had been going through his mind when posting what he did? Either way, social media posting has consequences, and Kyrie just happened to learn a very expensive lesson.
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