What to Know About Kyrie Irving’s Antisemitic Movie Post and the Fallout
A few weeks ago, the Philadelphia 76ers star and owner of the NBA’s third-highest-valued player filed a lawsuit against former Antisemitic film producer and filmmaker Jabin Salter.
The suit, which was filed in California, accuses the filmmaker and producer of “conspiring to use libel per se and libel per quod” and states that Salter was “intentionally and maliciously” involved with Irving’s “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
The suit further alleges that Salter committed “an unconscionable act by knowingly and intentionally providing false testimony and evidence,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. In the suit, Irving accuses Salter of using his film to “attempt to cause the plaintiff to take a stand against Jews,” including Irving, and “falsely accuse the plaintiff of being anti-Semitic.”
Salter, a self-identified supporter of the Zionist movement, is well-known for having produced the anti-Iranian film, The Gate of Sighs, which uses actors like Jennifer Lawrence and Bryan Cranston to portray Jews as corrupt leaders. Salter, who is Jewish-American, is also known for his anti-Muslim film and video works, which he first began making in the 1980s, when he was known as an anti-Semitic filmmaker and activist, and has continued since the 1990s.
In particular, The Gate of Sighs focused on how Iran-backed militants and other foreign groups were infiltrating and influencing Iranian politics. Many in the film depicted Iran as an oppressive, backward nation that was being led by an evil, patriarchal leader.
“I was a filmmaker making a film which was going to expose the corrupt leadership, and that’s what the film is dedicated to,” Salter told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. “I put two and two together.
