Charles Barkley Discusses ‘Cancel Culture,’ Kyrie Irving Suspension

He thinks you should be called out for saying something “stupid.”

Nets guard Kyrie Irving continues to serve his indefinite suspension without pay after he repeatedly refused to apologize for promoting the antisemitic documentary, Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, on Twitter. During an appearance on CNN, NBA analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley weighed in on the punishment and his thoughts on the term “cancel culture.”

“I don’t like using the term cancel culture,” Barkley said. “Because I don’t want anybody canceled. But you should be called to the carpet if you said something wrong. I don’t believe somebody should lose their job or things like that. But you should be called out if you said something stupid. Hey, I’ve been called out many times, I have no problem with that.”

"People have the right to feel and say what they want to, we have freedom of speech, but there are repercussions when you say certain things."

Charles Barkley says the NBA "dropped the ball" on Kyrie Irving and the action it took surrounding his antisemitic tweet. pic.twitter.com/t7ZmUqXNOw

— CNN (@CNN) November 15, 2022

“But I hate the term cancel culture because very few people are canceled, let’s be honest and real,” he continued. 

After Irving initially posted a link to the film and his subsequently refusal to apologize for it, Barkley called for the NBA to suspend him. The Nets suspended Irving from the team days later, and later that night the guard apologized for his actions to Jewish communities and their families. The Nets have stipulated that Irving needs to satisfy several conditions, including a condemnation of the film, to return to the court.

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