LeBron James Takes Another Social Justice Stand, This Time Against Kanye West
LeBron James has never had a problem stating his opinion on non-basketball issues.
His latest occurred Tuesday night when he decided to pull an episode of his show, "The Shop' featuring rapper Kanye West. James' camp released a statement to the website Andscape.com saying they will not air the episode because of West's recent controversial comments regarding the Jewish community.
“Yesterday we taped an episode of The Shop with Kanye West," the statement read. "Kanye was booked weeks ago and, after talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments. Unfortunately, he used The Shop to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes."
West, a longtime supporter of Donald Trump, has been in the news after making what some deemed derogatory comments on Twitter and during an appearance on the Tucker Carlson show on Fox News.
"I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE," West tweeted recently. "The funny thing is I actually can't be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda."
The tweets and an Instagram post were deleted and both accounts were restricted. Still, West hasn't backed down from his comments, causing James to make his decision.
James, who played with the Miami Heat from 2010-14, has always been vocal matters as such. While with the Heat, he played a large role in the team taking a photo while wearing hoodies to show support of Trayvon Martin. He later was outspoken on former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling after tapes caught him using racist language. Sterling eventually was banned from the NBA.
Earlier this month, James also spoke up about Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver after an investigation revealed he made inappropriate comments in the workplace. Sarver is in the process of selling the team.
MORE HEAT-RELATED STORIES
Rookie Nikola Jovic adjusting to playing center. CLICK HERE
Patience is key for Victor Oladipo. CLICK HERE
Bam Adebayo puts his trust in Erik Spoelstra. CLICK HERE
For a look at some of the latest Heat apparel. CLICK HERE
TWITTER: @ShandelRich
Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here
For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com
Shandel Richardson is the Miami Heat writer for Inside The Heat. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA.
