Former NFL wide receiver Cole Beasley has spoken out on social media about the Kyrie Irving controversy after the Brooklyn Nets announced Thursday that he would be suspended for five games, without pay, for tweeting a link to a movie that contained antisemitic rhetoric.
Beasley, who retired last month after just two weeks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, responded to a tweet about Irving's suspension, saying he "won't miss this part of professional sports."
Like Irving in the NBA, Beasley fought the NFL over COVID-19 policies. Both athletes refused to be vaccinated, and as a result, were hit with fines and loss of game checks as they ran afoul of rules in New York State and their respective leagues. As a result, Irving and Beasley both became leading figures among vaccine skeptics and critics of various mandates, most of which have been lifted.
Irving has once again ignited controversy, only this time, it's over a tweet linking to the Amazon page for the 2018 film 'Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.' The movie is based on a 2015 book by the same name, which Rolling Stone described as 'venomously anti-Semitic.' Specifically, it quotes Hitler to convince the audience about the existence of a Jewish plan for world domination.
