Nike is pressing pause on its endorsement deal with Kyrie Irving … and now his signature shoe is being shelved.
The shoe giant announced Friday it was suspending its business relationship with the NBA star, explaining … “At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism.”
Nike also says it will no longer launch the Kyrie 8 basketball shoe, adding … “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
As you know … Kyrie’s faced a ton of backlash ever since tweeting out a link to an antisemitic film last week.
SNY
Nike isn’t the first to come down on Irving. The Nets announced Thursday they were suspending him at least 5 games after he refused to outright apologize for promoting the film. The Nets said Kyrie will not be allowed to play for the club again until he “satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct.”
The point guard finally issued a lengthy mea culpa on his social media after being suspended, but folks are questioning his sincerity.
Kyrie’s apology wasn’t enough to save his relationship with Nike … at least for now.