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Amazon CEO says platform won't stop selling antisemitic film Kyrie Irving tweeted about

Dec 1, 2022, 20:29 IST
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Andy Jassy (l), Kyrie Irving.Getty/Thos Robinson; Getty/Jesse Garrabrant
  • Amazon will not stop selling the antisemitic film Kyrie Irving tweeted a link to, CEO Andy Jassy said Wednesday.
  • "As a retailer of content ... we have to allow access to those viewpoints," he said.
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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Wednesday that the streaming platform had no immediate plans to stop selling the antisemitic film that gained notoriety after Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving tweeted a link to it.

In late October, Irving shared a link to the documentary – titled "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America" – with his millions of Twitter followers.

The film claimed that certain people of color, including Black Americans, are the true descendants of the biblical Israelites and alleges that Jews have conspired to oppress and defraud Black people.

It also features antisemitic stereotypes and tropes about Jewish people controlling the media and being greedy, as well as claims that Jews have falsified the history of the Holocaust to "contain their nature and protect their status of power," according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Irving, 30, was suspended by the Nets in November, after posting a link to the film, but has since returned to the court after issuing an apology.

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Speaking at The New York Times' DealBook Summit in New York City, Jassy said the platform will continue to sell the film, and the book of the same name, despite mounting pressure for it to be discontinued.

"As a retailer of content to hundreds of millions of customers with a lot of different viewpoints, we have to allow access to those viewpoints, even if they are objectionable – objectionable and they differ from our particular viewpoints," said Jassy, according to The Times.

Jassy, who is Jewish, said making decisions about taking content down is "more straightforward" when it "actively incites or promotes violence, or teaches people to do things like pedophilia."

Amazon has come under significant pressure from Jewish groups to remove both the film and book since Irving's tweet.

In a letter addressed directly to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and a colleague in November, the Anti-Defamation League warned that the titles "could lead directly to the harm of Jews."

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