Lebron James apologises for 'Jewish money' Instagram post

The NBA star, 33, shared the lyrics to ASMR by 21 Savage on social media on Saturday after having the song on for a car journey.


He wrote: "We been getting that Jewish money, Everything is Kosher," on the post while wearing a Lakers hoody.

James and his side lost 107-99 to the Memphis Grizzlies and afterwards he took the chance to apologise.

The four-time NBA MVP said: "Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone.

"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.

"So I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn't through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody."

Despite James saying he interpreted the lyrics as a "compliment", American business journalist Darren Rovell picked up on the post and shared it on his own social media channel.

Rovell said: "'Getting that Jewish money' might be seen as a compliment, as in Jews disproportionate to their population (1.4% of the US), on average, have a significant place among the nation’s most wealthy individuals.

"The issue is that “Jewish money” is actually a derogatory term that, throughout the history of the Jews, has led to hate.

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Yesterday, I saw that LeBron James posted this on Instagram. He was quoting lyrics from @21savage. “Getting that Jewish money” might be seen as a compliment, as in Jews disproportionate to their population (1.4% of the US), on average, have a significant place among the nation’s most wealthy individuals. The issue is that “Jewish money” is actually a derogatory term that, throughout the history of the Jews, has led to hate. It contributed to hate by the Nazis and along with the long nose in cartoons, it contributed to a stereotype that Jews would do anything for money. I spent all day yesterday battling people on Twitter about why the lyrics were not OK and why quoting the lyrics didn’t absolve LeBron from responsibility. As I expected, last night LeBron told @davemcten he was apologizing if he offended anyone. It was an uphill battle yesterday, but LeBron knows simply acknowledging a mistake goes a long way into helping people understand the other side of “the coin.”

A post shared by Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) on

"It contributed to hate by the Nazis and along with the long nose in cartoons, it contributed to a stereotype that Jews would do anything for money."

But after James' apology, Rovell tweeted the Lakers ace, praising him for his "impressive emotional intelligence".

He said: "Knew that @KingJames would apologize for quoting “Jewish $.” One of the reasons he’s the off-the-court star he is is because he has an impressive emotional intelligence who, considering his time in social media age, has made so few mistakes."

Speaking in August, Yale professor Eliyahu Stern told the Times of Israel: "Historically, Jewish materialism was used by anti-Semites seeking to demean the value of Judaism.

"It's often been used as a way of delegitimising Judaism's spiritual and religious values by those who depict Judaism as a cover for hoarding, egoism and an expression of difference."

According to reports, the NBA do not plan on punishing James for the incident.

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