LeBron James has apologized for sharing the lyrics to a rap that includes the line “getting that Jewish money” and said he never meant to offend “anyone.”
“Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone,” the 33-year-old professional basketball star told ESPN Sunday. “That’s not why I chose to share that lyric. I always [post lyrics]. That’s what I do. I ride in my car, I listen to great music, and that was the byproduct of it.” (RELATED: LeBron James Makes Insane Claim About NFL Owners And Slavery. Here’s What He Said)
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“So I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people,” he added. “My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody.”
The comments came in light of the Los Angeles Lakers star drawing criticism after he posted a video of himself on his Instagram story reciting the lyrics to 21 Savage’s “ASMR” that read, “We getting that Jewish money, Everything is Kosher.” (RELATED: LeBron James S
“Surprised LeBron, who makes very few mistakes, put this out,” Darren Rovell, sports analyst for The Action Network tweeted. “Does quoting lyrics from a song absolve the person quoting from the responsibility behind the worlds? I’d argue no, especially with a following of 45 million.”
Surprised LeBron, who makes very few mistakes, put this out. Does quoting lyrics from a song absolve the person quoting from the responsibility behind the words? I’d argue no, especially with a following of 45 million. pic.twitter.com/efv9gkXres
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 23, 2018
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Strong weekend for LeBron: call white NFL owners slave masters & now going after Jewish people too. Good thing black people can’t be racist. https://t.co/2Oaz6ugL7K
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) December 23, 2018
Do I think LeBron is anti-Semitic? I have no idea. He’s quoting a lyric from a rap song he likes just like Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse team & Divincenzo. But why does the same standard from left wingers not apply to LeBron as it did to them? Shouldn’t they be outraged?
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) December 23, 2018
James also made headlines a few days earlier when he claimed that National Football League owners have a slave owner mentality, per the Washington Post.
“In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality. And it’s like, ‘This is my team. You do what the f— I tell y’all to do. Or we get rid of y’all … I’m so appreciative in our league of our commissioner [Adam Silver]. He doesn’t mind us having … a real feeling and to be able to express that. It doesn’t even matter if Adam agrees with what we are saying, he at least wants to hear us out. As long as we are doing it in a very educational, non-violent way, then he’s absolutely okay with it.”