Joe Rogan Questions Kyrie Irving's Persecution For Tweeting A Film Amazon Sells

Podcast host Joe Rogan questions the persecution and suspension of NBA guard Kyrie Irving.

The Nets suspended Irving earlier this month for not apologizing for tweeting an Amazon link to the film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," a title that promotes a Black Hebrew Israelite ideology.

Irving was punished for the thought crime of linking to a documentary. Meanwhile, Amazon continues to sell both the film and book of the same name.

Rogan doesn't understand the disparate reaction:

"Kyrie posted a link in his story to a video, and this is why he is getting in trouble. But isn’t that video for sale on Amazon?”
“That’s the craziest thing ever. Kyrie is getting in trouble and Amazon’s not. Like what? You want all this from him because he watched a video and he sent a link to it that you are selling. That’s fucking wild.”
“The film is still for sale. They want him to give up half a million dollars. They want him to make a public apology. They want him to talk to different leaders. And the fucking video — all he did was post a link. What did he say? Did he say, ‘This video is amazing? And I agree 100% with everything he says?'”

To answer Rogan's final rhetorical question, no. Irving never said he agreed with what the title promotes. In fact, Irving didn't say anything. He merely posted a link to Jeff Bezos' empire in a sentence-less tweet.

OutKick first questioned why the outrage crowd targeted not Amazon but Kyrie Irving in a column on November 4:

"Here’s Amazon enabling users to share, consume, and revere the beliefs in which Irving’s critics call dangerously anti-Semitic.
"The leading retail corporation in the world selling titles that spread the beliefs of Black Hebrew Israelite extremists ought to be more worrisome to supposed fighters of hate speech than a basketball player finding a film’s context indulging."

Namely, MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski's husband pressured Nike to sever ties with Irving for tweeting a link.

“Nike is another example, like the NBA before yesterday, they believe in social justice, just not for Jews,” Joe Scarborough said.

Notice Scarborough never applied such pressure on Nike to unlist its products from Amazon to prove its stance against anti-Semitism. He wouldn't dare jeopardize such profits for Bezos.

Anyway, Nike suspended its business partnership with Irving a day after MSNBC's order to do so.

Joe Rogan and Kyrie Irving.

As Rogan said, critics set out to bury Irving for watching a movie from which Amazon profits. Several "Hebrews to Negroes" titles are among the current best-sellers on Amazon.

Now, since OutKick's column, there has been a minor uptick in pressure on Amazon. Mila Kunis, Debra Messing, and Creative Community for Peace signed an open letter that ordered booksellers to unlist the title immediately.

Barnes & Noble dutifully complied on Tuesday by removing the book from each of its shelves. Amazon has not.

“It’s pretty wild that that video is for sale and is in trouble,” Rogan concluded.

Wild, indeed.