Kyrie Irving responded twice to the negative backlash he received for his celebratory yacht party last Friday which seemingly hosted only white women. Twitter initially reacted furiously to the pro baller’s turn-up, which was held after he won the NBA Finals with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavilers last week.
Once video surfaced of the bash at Atlantis Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas, social media users made their feelings known.
But y'all dumb and just wanna perpetuate an angry black girl stereotype ?
— Angelica Pickles (@Itsprincesssyd_) June 24, 2016
Irving responded cryptically to the criticism June 25. In a photo posted on Instagram, he focused on the two women who were “all different shades.” The caption was complete with the hashtag #tryadifferentstory.
But the backlash continued and the star was led to address it head on in a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon.
“I was raised by the Black women in my family,” Irving wrote. “And for me to be connected to some nonsense like a ‘No Black girls allowed’ party is embarrassing and an inaccurate portrayal of who and what I represent as [a] man.”
“I would like to apologize to anyone if they were offended initially without knowing any of what actually happened, but that story has no truth to it and I wanted to clear the air on all of this B.S,” he wrote suggesting there were Black women present. “And for those who know me, I’m sorry you all had to answer questions about a story as ridiculous as something like this.”
The statement drew mixed reactions.
Julianna Lobosky, a white woman, blamed the negative online response on pulling the race card.
Cedreca Zabardast Strickland-Peacock was pleased that no Black women were at the party, alluding to lewd activities that occur at such events.
But Tea Porter felt whether or not the party was white women only others acting like such a gathering would be okay was problematic.
Dellyian Oteng Kobby had a colorblind view of the situation.
