A rapper whose song lyrics deemed anti-Semitic got NBA superstar LeBron James into hot water when he posted them on Instagram has apologized to the Jewish community, JTA reported on Tuesday.
James, the star forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, had posted a line from rapper 21 Savage’s new song over the weekend on his Instagram account.
The lyrics, taken from the newly-released song “Asmr” off of the “I Am Greater Than I Was” album, read “We been getting that Jewish money, everything is Kosher.”
The post quickly drew criticism, and was later deleted from James’ account.
21 Savage in a tweet on Monday said he never thought that anyone would be offended by the lyrics in his new song.
“The Jewish people I know are very wise with there [sic] money so that’s why I said we been gettin Jewish money I never thought anyone would take offense I’m sorry if I offended everybody never my intention I love all people,” he wrote.
James himself has apologized for posting the offensive lyrics.
“Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone. That’s not why I chose to share that lyric. I always [post lyrics]. That’s what I do. I ride in my car, I listen to great music, and that was the byproduct of it. So I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody,” he stressed.
The NBA has accepted James’ apology and will not take further action, ESPN reported.