Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard has found himself in hot water after using an anti-Semitic slur during a recent Twitch live stream.
In the video, which surfaced on Reddit earlier today, Leonard can be heard saying: “Fucking cowards; don’t fucking snipe me, you fucking k— bitch” whilst playing Call of Duty.
During the stream, Leonard breaks off to take a phone call and abruptly ends the session. “Yo, my wife needs me,” Leonard says. “She just called me. I gotta roll brother.”
The brusque end to the stream has led people to speculate that Leonard quit after being informed that his use of a slur was doing the rounds on social media.
In the aftermath of the video going viral, Leonard took to Instagram to issue a lengthy statement. Leonard admitted he did not understand the gravity of the word, and extended an apology to the Jewish community.
“I am deeply sorry for using an anti-Semitic slur during a livestream yesterday,” Leonard wrote. “While I didn’t know what the word meant at the time, my ignorance about its history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely not an excuse and I was just wrong. I am now more aware of its meaning and I am committed to properly seeking out people who can help educate me about this type of hate and how we can fight it.
“I acknowledge and own my mistake and there’s no running from something like this that is so hurtful to someone else. This is not a proper representation of who I am and I want to apologize to the Arisons, my teammates, coaches, front office, and everyone associated with the Miami Heat organization, to my family, to our loyal fans and to others in the Jewish community who I have hurt. I promise to do better and know that my future actions will be more powerful than my use of this word.”
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