Eagles player apologizes over anti-Semitic post: ‘I do not have hatred towards anyone’

by Marina Pitofsky - 07/07/20 1:51 PM ET

Philadelphia Eagles player DeSean Jackson apologized Tuesday after sharing an anti-Semitic message earlier this week that was incorrectly attributed to Adolf Hitler.

Jackson shared an image to his Instagram stories on Monday that said Jews “will blackmail America. [They] will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they were,” ESPN reported.

The wide receiver also shared two posts on Saturday and Monday praising Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The posts have since been deleted.

Jackson shared a video on Tuesday apologizing, saying that he received backlash over the Instagram story.

“I never want to put any race down or any people down. My post was definitely not intended for anybody of any race to feel any type of way, especially the Jewish community,” Jackson said in the video.

“I’m very apologetic, and I just want you guys to understand that it never was intended to put any race down or any religion down,” he continued.

Jackson added, “I just probably shouldn’t have ever posted anything that Hitler did, because Hitler was a bad person, and I know that. I was just trying to uplift African Americans and slavery and just enlighten my people.”

The player wrote in the caption of the video, “I do not have hatred towards anyone. I really didn’t realize what this passage was saying. Hitler has caused terrible pain to Jewish people like the pain African-Americans have suffered. We should be together fighting anti-Semitism and racism. This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused.”

The Philadelphia Eagles released a statement Tuesday calling his posts “offensive, harmful, and absolutely appalling.”

“They have no place in our society, and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organization. We are disappointed and we reiterated to DeSean the importance of not only apologizing, but also using his platform to take action to promote unity, equality and respect.”

The team said it is “continuing to evaluate the circumstances and will take appropriate action.”

pic.twitter.com/jNk5g99jgK

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) July 7, 2020

The NFL issued a Tuesday statement saying that “DeSean’s comments were highly inappropriate, offensive and divisive and stand in stark contrast to the NFL’s values of respect, equality and inclusion. We have been in contact with the team which is addressing the matter with DeSean.”

The Anti-Defamation League in Philadelphia tweeted Tuesday criticizing Jackson’s comments and thanking him for his apology.

“It’s our hope he uses this moment as a chance to work with the Jewish community and educate himself further on how dangerous and hurtful antisemitism is,” the organization shared.

Deeply troubling to see @DeSeanJackson10 promoting the message of notorious antisemite and NOI leader Louis Farrakhan. We have reached out to the @Eagles about this and call on Jackson to immediately apologize. https://t.co/QEoP847BtG

— ADL Philadelphia (@ADLPhiladelphia) July 7, 2020